TikTok has called a report that China is considering allowing the sale of the social network’s US operations to Elon Musk “pure fiction.”
The company’s comments came in response to a Bloomberg report that Chinese officials are considering an option to sell its American business to the world’s richest person if the US Supreme Court upholds the ban on the app.
Supreme Court justices are expected to rule on the law, which gives TikTok a Jan. 19 deadline to either sell its US business or face a ban in the country.
TikTok has repeatedly said it will not sell its US business.
“We cannot be expected to comment on pure fiction,” a TikTok spokesperson told BBC News.
Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that one possible scenario being considered by Chinese officials would be for Musk’s X social media platform to take control of TikTok’s US operations.
Musk is a close ally of the newly elected US President Donald Trump, who is scheduled to return to the White House on January 20.
Last month, Trump urged the Supreme Court to delay its decision until he takes office to allow him to seek a “political solution.”
His lawyer filed a legal filing with the court saying that Trump “opposes the ban on TikTok” and “seeks to be able to resolve the issue through political means 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.
The Biden administration has argued that without the sale, China could use TikTok as a tool for spying and political manipulation.
The company has repeatedly denied any influence from the Chinese Communist Party and said the US ban violates users’ First Amendment free speech rights.