China considers TikTok sale to Musk: Report
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Parent company of video app called reports ‘pure fiction’. The Chinese government prefers that the app remain in the hands of parent company ByteDance, but has reportedly discussed the potential of a Musk acquisition as part of its broader contingency planning for working with the incoming Trump administration.
A potential sale to Musk would put the billionaire in an unprecedented position, owning X, one of the world’s largest social media networks, and the U.S. operations of another, all while serving as a top adviser to Donald Trump. Such a deal could raise concerns about monopoly ownership of social media platforms. Musk’s possible partnership with China would likely also fail to allay security concerns about TikTok if Chinese officials would continue to have access to U.S. user data through Musk.
ByteDance downplayed the report. The Independent has contacted X for comment. In April, the U.S. Congress passed a bipartisan bill to ban TikTok in the U.S. unless it finds a new owner. Federal officials have argued the site is a “national-security threat of immense depth and scale” because of alleged links with China, and resulting concerns over the sanctity of U.S. user data.
TikTok and ByteDance have argued these concerns are unfounded. They are currently challenging the TikTok ban at the Supreme Court. On Friday, the justices appeared skeptical of the company’s First Amendment arguments. “Congress doesn’t care about what’s on TikTok,” Chief Justice John Roberts said during oral arguments. “They don’t care about the expression. That’s shown by the remedy. They’re not saying TikTok has to stop. They’re saying the Chinese have to stop controlling TikTok.”.
