The Guardian-Chinese officials reportedly discuss sale of TikTok in US to Elon Musk
January 14, 2025 2 min 280 words
英国《卫报》报道称，中国官员与埃隆马斯克讨论了出售TikTok美国业务的事宜。报道主要内容有： 1. 据《彭博社》报道，中国官员与亿万富翁埃隆马斯克（Elon Musk）就潜在出售TikTok在美国的业务进行了初步讨论，因为短视频应用TikTok可能无法避免即将在美国被禁。 2. 报道称，北京官员更希望TikTok能继续由字节跳动公司控制，但同时指出TikTok的美国业务可能需要通过竞争性流程或政府安排进行出售。 3. 中国政府持有字节跳动公司的“黄金股”，美国国会多位议员称这让中国政府对TikTok具有控制权。 4. 报道提出的一种可能情景是，马斯克的社交媒体平台X（推特Twitter）接管TikTok的美国业务，并共同运营。 5. TikTok发言人否认了这一报道，称其“纯属虚构”。 6. 目前尚不清楚字节跳动对于讨论的了解程度，以及马斯克和TikTok的参与程度。 7. 上周，美国最高法院倾向于支持一项可能会在1月19日之前强制TikTok在美国出售或关闭的美国法律，理由是国家安全担忧。 评论： 该报道有明显的倾向性，试图制造一种中国官方干预TikTok运营，并试图将其美国业务出售给埃隆马斯克的印象。然而，该报道的证据薄弱，主要基于“匿名消息源”和“可能的情景”，TikTok发言人也已否认。该报道忽略了字节跳动公司和TikTok官方在此事上的立场和解释，缺乏客观公正。此外，报道也忽略了美国政府在TikTok事件上的施压和干预，试图将事件完全导向中国。该报道延续了西方媒体对中国科技企业的偏见和负面报道倾向，缺乏公正和专业的新闻伦理。
Chinese officials are in preliminary talks about a potential option to sell TikTok’s operations in the United States to billionaire Elon Musk, should the short-video app be unable to avoid an impending ban, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.
Beijing officials prefer that TikTok remains under the control of parent Bytedance, the report said, citing sources.
TikTok’s US operations could either be sold through a competitive process or an arrangement by the government, the report said, suggesting that the future of the app is no longer solely in ByteDance’s control.
China’s government has a “golden share” in ByteDance, which several members of Congress have said gives the government power over TikTok.
Under one scenario, Musk’s social media platform X would take control of TikTok US and run the business together, the report said. Officials have yet to reach a consensus about how to proceed, according to Bloomberg News.
“We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction,” a TikTok spokesperson said, responding to the report.
It remains unclear how much ByteDance is aware of the discussions, or of Musk and TikTok’s involvement, and there is no information on whether ByteDance, TikTok and Musk have engaged in any talks regarding a possible deal.
TikTok has previously said that the government’s stake “has no bearing on ByteDance’s global operations outside of China, including TikTok”.
Elon Musk, X, and China’s Cyberspace and ministry of commerce did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last week, the supreme court seemed inclined to uphold a law that would force a sale or ban TikTok in the US by 19 January, over national security concerns about China.