New Delhi: Amidst the deadline of the US Supreme Court’s decision, which will come before the January 19, to determine the future of TikTok in the United States, media reports are pouring in that Tesla Motors and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk could be in the potential race to buy TikTok US Operations.
A report in the Bloomberg on Monday revealed that Chinese officials are in preliminary discussions regarding the acquisition of TikTok’s US operations by Elon Musk, incase the popular social media platform faces a ban in the US.
“TikTok’s US operations could be valued at around $40 billion to $50 billion, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Mandeep Singh and Damian Reimertz estimated last year. That’s a substantial sum even for the world’s richest person. It’s not clear how Musk could pull off such a transaction, whether it would require the sale of other holdings, or whether the US government would approve. He paid $44 billion for Twitter in 2022, and is still paying off sizable loans,” wrote the Bloomberg report.
Musk had in April last year tweeted that TikTok should not be banned in the US, even if it had the potential to benefit the tech billionaire’s X platform.
“In my opinion, TikTok should not be banned in the USA, even though such a ban may benefit the platform. Doing so would be contrary to freedom of speech and expression. It is not what America stands for,” Musk wrote.
In my opinion, TikTok should not be banned in the USA, even though such a ban may benefit the _ platform.
Doing so would be contrary to freedom of speech and expression. It is not what America stands for.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk)
Meanwhile, US President-elect Donald Trump has filed a brief with the US Supreme Court urging the justices to block a law that mandates the popular social media platform TikTok to either sell its US operations or shut down by January 19, the New York Times reported.
The timing of the deadline–days before Trump’s inauguration–has led to calls for a delay so that the incoming president can address the issue himself.
In his brief, President Trump refrains from taking a stance on the constitutional issue regarding the First Amendment, which will be argued by the court next month. The First Amendment challenge centres around whether Congress violated free speech rights by effectively banning TikTok. Instead, Trump’s brief focuses on his ability to resolve the matter through political means once he assumes office.
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