Elon Musk may buy TikTok before it gets banned in the US

After acquiring Twitter and turning it into X, Elon Musk may be about to acquire TikTok, if rumors coming out of China are true. Selling to Elon Musk may be the only way TikTok can avoid being completely banned in the United States in the next few days.

Reports Suggest Elon Musk May Be Buying TikTok

Chinese government officials are considering selling TikTok to Elon Musk to save the app from being banned in the United States, Bloomberg reported. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, but the Chinese government controls ByteDance's Chinese subsidiary Douyin and is also believed to have a big say in what ByteDance does with TikTok in the United States.

ByteDance has repeatedly said it would sell TikTok to get around any ban. And when asked to respond to rumours that Elon Musk might buy TikTok in the US, a spokesperson told the BBC, "We can't comment on things that are purely fictional ." However, with TikTok set to be banned in the US from January 19, time is running out for the company.

Elon Musk has yet to comment on the report, to confirm or deny that he is interested in acquiring TikTok. However, in April 2024, before joining Donald Trump's team, he posted on X to criticize the US ban. So now that he is about to become part of the US government, he may try to prevent that ban from going ahead.

Time is running out for TikTok to overcome the ban

There have been threats to ban TikTok in the United States for years, from both the Trump and Biden administrations. But while many states have restricted installation of the app on state-owned devices, any broad ban that would prevent the public from accessing the app has so far failed.

But that all changes on January 19, 2025, when TikTok will officially be banned across the United States. In April 2024, President Biden gave TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, nine months to find a buyer or face a nationwide ban in the United States. And the U.S. Supreme Court looks set to uphold the law.

Samuel Daniel

Update 15 January 2025