Tiktok in the USA: Is Elon Musk now buying Tiktok – what does China say?

According to media reports, the Chinese government is considering selling Tiktok’s threatened US business to tech billionaire Elon Musk. The option was discussed in Beijing that Musk’s online platform X could take control of Tiktok US and operate the services together, wrote the financial service Bloomberg, citing informed people.

A little later, the Wall Street Journal also reported that the willingness to make a deal with Musk had been explored after Donald Trump moved into the White House.

The video app Tiktok belongs to the Bytedance company, which has its headquarters in China. There are warnings in the US that the Chinese government could gain access to data from US users and organize influence campaigns on the platform.

That’s why Bytedance has to separate from Tiktok according to a US law. The deadline of 270 days expires on January 19th. Without a sale, there is a risk of extinction in the USA on that day. Tiktok rejects the allegations and has so far refused to separate from Bytedance.

Instead, Tiktok went to the US Supreme Court with the hope of at least getting a reprieve. At a hearing, however, the judges appeared unconvinced by the argument that the law violated the freedom of speech enshrined in the US Constitution.

Donald Trump, who will be sworn in as president on January 20th, also called on the judges to give him more time to make a deal for Tiktok. The app has more than 170 million users in the US.

Tiktok always emphasizes that Bytedance is mostly owned by international investors – but due to its headquarters in Beijing, the parent company also has to comply with the requirements of the authorities. The government can also have a say in a sale: the algorithm that selects the videos for users was developed in China. And Beijing banned the distribution of such software without special permission.

A Tiktok spokesman told the British broadcaster BBC about the Bloomberg report that one could not expect the company to comment on “pure fiction.” At the same time, Bloomberg restricted that it remained unclear whether Tiktok was privy to the deliberations. The relationship between the USA and China is burdened by allegations of espionage and punitive tariffs, among other things – and Tiktok could become material for negotiations.

Asked about the reports, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said he would not answer hypothetical questions. In principle, however, the USA should respect the principles of a market economy and fair competition and create a non-discriminatory business environment for companies from all over the world.

Musk, who also runs the electric car manufacturer Tesla, donated more than $250 million to Trump’s election campaign and is currently one of his closest confidants. He is considered a businessman with very good relationships with the Chinese leadership, who repeatedly received him at high levels during his visits to the People’s Republic.

China is one of the most important sales markets for Tesla. The group was also the first foreign car manufacturer to build a factory in Shanghai that belongs entirely to Tesla. Others always had to set up joint ventures with Chinese partners. Some observers see the influence that Musk could exercise over Trump in the White House in the future as an advantage for China.