TikTok’s future in Elon Musk’s hands?
According to a Bloomberg report, one potential scenario would see Musk’s platform, X, taking over TikTok’s US operations and running them jointly.
Chinese officials are reportedly considering selling TikTok’s US operations to Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X (formerly Twitter), if the app cannot avoid a looming US ban. According to a Bloomberg report, this move is being discussed as a contingency, although Beijing prefers TikTok to remain under the control of its parent company, ByteDance.
ByteDance, which partially owns TikTok, is under scrutiny due to its ‘golden share’ arrangement with the Chinese government, a setup some US lawmakers claim gives Beijing influence over the platform. While Chinese officials are exploring options, no consensus has been reached on whether a competitive sale or a government-coordinated arrangement would be the path forward.
One potential scenario would see Musk’s platform, X, taking over TikTok’s US operations and running them jointly. However, whether ByteDance, TikTok, or Musk are actively discussing such a deal is unclear. TikTok has consistently maintained that China’s ‘golden share’ does not affect its global operations outside China, including the US.
The uncertainty comes as the US Supreme Court recently leaned toward upholding a law that could either force TikTok’s sale or ban it entirely in the US by 19 January, citing national security concerns over China’s access to user data.
TikTok and Musk have declined to comment on the matter, with a TikTok spokesperson dismissing the reports as ‘pure fiction.’
Meanwhile, Beijing’s deliberations suggest that the app’s future may slip out of ByteDance’s control as concerns over data sovereignty and geopolitical tensions intensify.