San Francisco:

Elon Musk on Friday expressed opposition to banning TikTok in the United States even if it meant less competition for his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, as the initiative gained new bipartisan support in Congress .

The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on Saturday on a bill that would force TikTok to spin off from its Chinese parent company ByteDance or face a nationwide ban.

The measure, which has strong support from many Democrats and Republicans and is included in a massive aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, could make it easier to pass both chambers of Congress.

“TikTok should not be banned in the United States, although such a ban may benefit Platform X,” Musk said in a post on the social network he acquired in 2022.

“To do so would be contrary to freedom of speech and expression.”

Many who responded to Musk’s comments expressed concern that a TikTok ban would set a precedent that could be used to target other social media and messaging services.

Under the bill, ByteDance must sell the app within months or be excluded from Apple and Google’s U.S. app stores.

It would also give the U.S. president the power to designate other apps as posing a threat to national security if they are controlled by countries deemed hostile.

TikTok slammed the bill, saying it would harm the U.S. economy and undermine free speech.

“Unfortunately, the House of Representatives is once again using the guise of critical foreign and humanitarian aid to block passage of a ban bill,” a spokesperson for the company said.

He added that the ban would “trample on the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, destroy 7 million businesses, and shut down a platform that contributes $24 billion to the U.S. economy annually.”

Western officials have sounded alarm over TikTok’s popularity among young people, claiming it is subservient to Beijing and a conduit for spreading propaganda, a claim both the company and Beijing deny.

Joe Biden reiterated his concerns about TikTok during a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping in early April.

The House approved a similar bill to crack down on TikTok last month, but the measure stalled in the Senate.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)