Axel Springer open to role in any potential European TikTok deal, spokesperson says

Oct 22 (Reuters) - Publishing group Axel Springer would welcome any European initiative to separate TikTok from its Chinese owners along the lines of President Donald Trump's deal to split the US social media app from its parent, a spokesperson for the German company said on Thursday.

TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, finalised a deal in January to transfer control of TikTok's US operations to an American-owned joint venture. The aim was to avert a ban in the US on the short-video app to allay security concerns raised by US politicians regarding the Chinese ownership of the app, which is popular with over 200 million Americans.

The comment from Axel Springer, owner of Politico, Telegraph Media Group and Business Insider, came in response to a Financial Times report. According to the report, Springer's CEO and co-owner Mathias Doepfner - who has repeatedly criticised TikTok - pitched an idea during a lunch in January with the US Ambassador to France, Charles Kushner, in which his company could be part of a deal to buy TikTok's European operations.

"As is clear from his public statements, Mathias Doepfner has always advocated for a European solution for TikTok along the lines of the American model," the spokesperson told Reuters. "Had such a solution materialized, Axel Springer would have welcomed the opportunity to be part of it as a major European media player."

When asked about a potential deal, a ByteDance spokesperson said: "This is a total fabrication and not even worth dignifying with a comment."

Doepfner has criticised TikTok in the past, calling it "one of the most dangerous propaganda machines for amplifying extremist content" in a speech at the World Jewish Congress in Geneva in May, as he called for antisemitism on social media to be consistently curbed.

"In America, TikTok has been forced to be sold to non-Chinese owners – Europe should follow this example," he said at that time.

(Reporting by Klaus LauerWriting by Linda Pasquini; Editing by Susan Fenton)