HONG KONG
<p> A TikTok content creator, sits outside the U.S. Capitol, April 23, 2024, in Washington.</p>
Chinese tech giant ByteDance has said it has no plans to sell TikTok after a new U.S. law put it on a deadline to divest from the hugely popular video platform or have it banned in the United States.
U.S. lawmakers set the nine-month deadline on national security grounds, alleging that TikTok can be used by the Chinese government for espionage and propaganda as long as it is owned by ByteDance.
The Information, a tech-focused U.S. news site, reported that ByteDance was looking at scenarios for selling TikTok.
ByteDance denied it was considering a sale.
“Foreign media reports about ByteDance exploring the sale of TikTok are untrue,” the company posted on Toutiao, a Chinese-language platform it owns.
“ByteDance does not have any plans to sell TikTok.”
It has forcefully denied any link to the Chinese government, and said it has not and will not share U.S. user data with Beijing.
Its critics say the data is only part of the problem, and that the TikTok recommendation algorithm, the “secret sauce” for its success, must also be disconnected from ByteDance.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has said the company will take the fight against the new law to the courts.
The estimated valuations of TikTok are in the tens of billions of dollars, and any forced sale would present major complications.
Among those with deep enough pockets, U.S. tech giants such as Instagram-parent Meta or Google would likely be blocked from buying the app over competition concerns.
Beijing has so far vocally opposed any forced sale of TikTok, saying it will take all necessary measures to protect Chinese companies.