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TikTok has called a report that China is considering allowing the sale of the US company’s operations to Elon Musk “true fiction.”
The company’s comments came in response to a Bloomberg report that Chinese officials are considering a deal that could see its American business sold to the world’s richest man if the US Supreme Court rules to block the program.
Supreme Court justices are expected to rule on the law that set a January 19 deadline for TikTok to sell its services in the US or be banned from the country.
TikTok has repeatedly said it will not sell its US service.
“We cannot expect to respond to false information,” a TikTok spokesperson told BBC News.
Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that the proposed move by Chinese officials could see Musk’s X social media control TikTok’s operations in the US.
X did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.
Musk is a close friend of US President Donald Trumpwho is due to return to the White House on January 20.
last month, Trump urged the Supreme Court delaying his decision until he takes office so he can get a “political decision”.
His lawyer briefed the court that Mr. Trump “opposes the ban on TikTok” and “seeks the ability to solve the problems he has through politics once he takes office”.
This came a week after Trump met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
On Monday, two Democratic lawmakers, Senator Edward Markey and Representative Ro Khanna, also asked Congress and President Joe Biden to extend the January 19 deadline.
At the Supreme Court hearing last week, the jury appeared follow the rules and stick to the deadline.
In nearly three hours of deliberations, the nine justices returned repeatedly to the national security concerns that prompted the law.
The Biden administration has said that without the sale, TikTok could be used by China as a tool for espionage and political interference.
The company has repeatedly denied any influence from the Chinese Communist Party and has said the US ban violates users’ First Amendment free speech rights.
