Twitter has, according to the Wall Street Journal, began preliminary discussions for a possible merger with TikTok, an application that Donald Trump accuses of spying for the benefit of China and threatens to ban the United States.
Asked by Agence France-Presse (AFP), Twitter and TikTok refused to confirm the information published Saturday evening by the financial daily, which mentions sources close to the file.
The US president signed a decree on Thursday banning any transaction in forty-five days “Persons under American jurisdiction” with ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, evoking a “National emergency” about the application of light videos.
Earlier this week, Mr. Trump said he was open to the takeover of TikTok by an American group before September 15, but warned that the service would be banned on American soil if no transaction took place by then. The tenant of the White House also demanded that in case of redemption, a significant part of the sum return to the US Treasury.
Microsoft expressed interest in acquiring TikTok’s US, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand operations last Sunday.
Twitter needs the support of other investors
According to Wall Street Journal, Twitter believes it is less likely than Microsoft to be pinned for abuse of dominance in this matter because of its significantly smaller size.
The platform would likely need the support of other investors to complete a buyout transaction. Furthermore, and unlike Microsoft, Twitter is not available in China, where the government has blocked its access since 2009.
Twitter acquired the very short video platform Vine in 2012, but decided to discontinue the service in 2016.
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