(AFP) – Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and a top advisor to US President Donald Trump, said he has no interest in acquiring social media platform TikTok’s operations in the United States, in comments released Saturday.
“I’ve not put in a bid for TikTok and I don’t have any plans for what I would do if I had TikTok,” said Musk in comments made via videolink at a German forum in late January that were released on the weekend. TikTok is facing down a US law that ordered the company broken off from its Chinese owner ByteDance or otherwise be banned in the United States over national security concerns regarding the data it gathers on users.
In one of his first acts in office, Trump ordered a pause on enforcing the law that should have seen TikTok effectively made illegal in the country a day before he took office for a second term. Soon after, Trump said he would be open to Musk — the owner of social media platform X, Tesla, and a slew of other companies — buying the platform. Musk, however, said he did not wish to acquire the company.
“I don’t use TikTok personally, so, you know, I’m not that familiar with it,” he said. “I’m not chomping at the bit to acquire TikTok.” Musk bought social media giant Twitter, which he renamed X, for $44 billion in 2022, insisting he was doing so in order to safeguard “free speech.” Since his takeover, rights campaigners warn there has been a spike in hate speech and disinformation on the platform.
Musk was one of Trump’s main financial backers in his presidential campaign and is heading the US president’s budget-slashing initiatives. His so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) has targeted a range of federal government agencies and regulators, with the apparent intent of shutting them down and firing staff, especially those not in line with Trump’s political agenda.
On Saturday, a US judge issued an emergency order blocking Musk’s government reform team from accessing personal and financial data for millions of Americans stored at the Treasury Department, court documents showed.
In the comments at the forum in Germany, Musk also took aim at Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, which are meant to support historically oppressed and disenfranchised communities. “DEI is simply racism rebranded,” he said. “I’m against racism and sexism no matter who it’s directed against.”
US officials have been racing to enact Trump’s war on DEI across the federal bureaucracy — dismantling training initiatives, scrapping grants, and sidelining hundreds of workers. In Germany, Musk has voiced firm support for the far-right anti-immigration AfD party — a political taboo in a country whose Nazi past remains a sensitive subject.
– Asad HASHIM
© 2024 AFP
