According to him, “freedom of expression” is at stake. Elon Musk spoke out on Friday against the ban on TikTok in the United States, as American elected officials prepare to vote on a law this weekend which could ultimately lead to the disappearance of the very popular platform.
“In my opinion, TikTok should not be banned in the United States, even if such a ban could benefit the X platform,” he said on X (formerly Twitter), the social network he bought at the end of 2022. “This would go against freedom of speech and expression. This is not what America stands for,” added the owner and/or boss of Tesla, SpaceX, X and other companies.
TikTok has been in the crosshairs of American authorities for years, with many officials believing that the short and entertaining video platform allows Beijing to spy on and manipulate its users in the United States.
“Regrettable” for TikTok
The US House of Representatives will vote on Saturday on a major aid plan for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, which also includes a law on the social network. If it comes into force, the text will force ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, to sell the application within a few months, otherwise it would be excluded from the Apple and Google application stores in the United States. -United.
The measure was added to the aid plan in the hope of facilitating its passage in both houses of Congress, after a similar text adopted in mid-March by representatives ended up in parliamentary limbo. “It is regrettable that the House of Representatives is using the pretext of significant foreign and humanitarian aid to once again push through a proposed ban that would violate the free speech rights of 170 million Americans,” reacted a TikTok spokesperson on Thursday.
In the comments under Musk's post on Friday, X users expressed concern that a ban on TikTok would set a precedent that could be used against other social networks. Because the law against the ByteDance platform would also give the US president the power to designate other applications as threats to national security if they are controlled by a country considered hostile to the United States.