China discusses potentially selling TikTok to Elon Musk ahead of US ban

Chinese officials are reportedly discussing Elon Musk potentially acquiring the US operations of TikTok ahead of its controversial ban in the US.

Chinese officials are reportedly discussing the potential of selling the US operations of TikTok to tech billionaire Elon Musk if the social media company fails to contest an impending US ban — in bombshell claims TikTok has disputed.

The acquisition of the social media platform by the X owner is part of a possible contingency plan being debated by senior Chinese officials before the app’s ban comes into effect in the US next week, Bloomberg reports, citing unnamed sources.

The US government passed a law last year that forced TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance to either sell the wildly popular platform or shut it down.

Chinese officials are reportedly discussing the potential of selling the US operations of TikTok to tech billionaire Elon Musk. Picture: Angela Weiss/AF

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ByteDance is currently contesting the ban – which goes into effect on Sunday – with an appeal at the US Supreme Court. However, the majority of the court appeared likely to uphold the law during oral arguments last week.

“A potential high-profile deal with one of Trump’s closest allies holds some appeal for the Chinese government, which is expected to have some say over whether TikTok is ultimately sold,” Bloomberg reports, citing the sources.

According to the outlet, deliberations are still preliminary, with Chinese officials yet to reach a consensus about how to move forward.

TikTok has rubbished the report.

“We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction,” a TikTok rep told Variety.

It comes after Mr Musk shared a post on X in April, opposing the shutdown of the social media app – which has some 170 million users in the United States.

“In my opinion, TikTok should not be banned in the USA, even though such a ban may benefit the X platform,” he wrote.

“Doing so would be contrary to freedom of speech and expression. It is not what America stands for.”

Donald Trump has appointed Mr Musk as co-chair of the new cost cutting Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

Mr Musk is a strong ally of incoming President Donald Trump. Picture: Kena Betancur/AFP

On Tuesday, US YouTube star MrBeast expressed his interest in purchasing the app in a remark on social media.

“Okay fine, I’ll buy Tik Tok so it doesn’t get banned,” he quipped on social media.

The US government has alleged TikTok allows Beijing to collect data and spy on users and is a conduit to spread propaganda.

China and ByteDance strongly deny the claims.

TikTok has some 170 million users in the United States. Picture: Antonin UTZ/AFP

US ‘TikTok refugees’ flee to Chinese alternative app

Ahead of the TikTok’s ban in the US, American content creators have taken flight to another Chinese social media app.

Xiaohongshu, known as Red Note in English, surged to the top of the Apple App Store downloads on Monday, as users flocked to its Instagram-meets-Pinterest style layout.

“Oh, you don’t want the Chinese to have our very sensitive personal data?” influencer Jen Hamilton asked sarcastically in a video sent to her 3.9 million followers on TikTok, advertising her move.

“It is impossible how little I care that the Chinese (have) my data,” she said in her video, sharing a joke about a user that “changed their username to their social security number” so alleged spies could “get promoted faster.”

“Come on over,” she said to her fellow “TikTok refugees.”

Xiaohongshu’s platform is almost entirely in Mandarin however it does not seem to be deterring curious Americans.

– With AFP

Originally published as China discusses potentially selling TikTok to Elon Musk ahead of US ban