TikTok has called a report that China is considering allowing a sale of the social media company’s US operations to Elon Musk “pure fiction.”
The firm’s comments came in response to a report by Bloomberg that Chinese officials are weighing an option that could see its business in America being sold to the world’s richest person if the US Supreme Court upholds a ban on the app.
Supreme Court justices are set to rule on a law that would see either TikTok banned in the US or its operations in the country sold off to an American investor.
TikTok has repeatedly said that it will not sell its US operation.
“We can’t 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 see Musk’s X social media platform take control of TikTok’s US operations.
The US government has argued that without a sale, TikTok could be used by China as a tool for spying and political manipulation.
The company has repeatedly denied any potential influence by the Chinese Communist Party and has said the law violates the First Amendment free speech rights of its users.