Twitter and TikTok have reportedly had preliminary conversations about a possible combination of their services, according to The Wall Street Journal.
This comes after U.S. President Donald Trump has issued an executive order to ban TikTok in the United States in 45 days if it’s not sold by its Chinese parent company. The company is now being forced to either find a buyer or face a ban.
TikTok has threatened legal action against the executive order and is challenging its legality. The company has stated that it tried to work with the Trump administration and found it “paid no attention to the facts.”
Microsoft has also been in talks to acquire TikTok’s operations in Canada, the U.S., Australia and New Zealand. The Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft is still considered the frontrunner for a possible deal with TikTok.
Experts have noted that Twitter would be unable to outbid Microsoft, and that it would be hard for the social media giant to reach a deal with TikTok within the 45-day period set out by President Trump.
Regardless, Twitter’s interest shows that Microsoft is not the only company interested in acquiring the popular app’s U.S. operations.
It’s worth noting that Twitter previously acquired Vine, which is a similar video-sharing app, and then shut it down four years later, a move that received significant backlash.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
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