The logo of TikTok is displayed on the screen of a smartphone in front of a TV screen displaying the TikTok logo. Photo: VCG

Chinese technology firm ByteDance, short video platform TikTok's parent company, on Sunday denied reports that it had been approached by a US business executive for a potential deal to acquire TikTok, stressing that its founder Zhang Yiming has held no such talks with anyone.

US lawmakers are currently pushing for a bill that would force ByteDance to divest TikTok, or it will be banned in the US.  Against this backdrop, some media outlets are hyping rumors of talks to sell TikTok to a US-based business executive. 

The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that Bobby Kotick, the former chief executive of videogame publisher Activision, had approached Zhang to express interest. The price tag is estimated to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars, according to the report. 

In response, ByteDance said on Sunday that the reports were inaccurate. 

"After confirmation, company founder Zhang Yiming has never discussed the relevant matter with anyone," the company said. 

A bipartisan group of US lawmakers introduced legislation on Tuesday to give ByteDance about six months or 165 days to divest TikTok or face a US ban.

In response, a TikTok spokesperson told the Global Times that "this bill is an outright ban of TikTok, no matter how much the authors of the bill try to disguise it. This legislation will trample on the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs."

On Thursday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted to pass a bill that could potentially ban the use of TikTok in the US by a vote of 50 to 0. Market observers said it indicated a fierce hunt by US politicians and the capital targeting the popular app in the US market, which may further affect China-US ties. 

Global Times