AP Photo/John Raoux, File
Billionaire Elon Musk has come out against efforts by the Congress to ban TikTok from operating inside the United States.
The owner of X, formerly Twitter, sent out a post on Friday noting that he is against banning the platform even though it would benefit X. Musk added that a ban is “contrary to freedom of speech” and “not what America stands for.”
“In my opinion, TikTok should not be banned in the USA, even though such a ban may benefit the 𝕏 platform,” Musk wrote to his millions of followers on X.
In my opinion, TikTok should not be banned in the USA, even though such a ban may benefit the 𝕏 platform.
Doing so would be contrary to freedom of speech and expression. It is not what America stands for.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 19, 2024
He added, “Doing so would be contrary to freedom of speech and expression. It is not what America stands for.”
The bill mandating that TikTok divest from it’s Chinese owner ByteDance is currently being fast-tracked through Congress with bipartisan support from lawmakers. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has attached the legislation to an aid package for Ukraine and Israel set to be finalized this weekend.
“We expect the vote on final passage on these bills to be on Saturday evening,” Johnson wrote in the memo to Republicans, according to CBS News.
Musk’s opinion aligns with former President Donald Trump who flip-flopped on the ban he once championed and came out against forcing the platform to divest back in March. Musk has long raised eyebrows for his close ties to China. The New York Times in March reported that “Tesla and China built a symbiotic relationship, with credits, workers, and parts that made Mr. Musk ultrarich.”
