Beijing muting sale of TikTok US to Musk _ US media

The Chinese government perceived to wield influence over TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance is considering whether the US operations of social media platform TikTok should be sold to billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk.

This was reported by a US media following a US law banning the popular video-sharing app scheduled to take effect on Sunday unless ByteDance sells its US business.

TikTok is contesting the impending ban with an appeal to the US Supreme Court, arguing that the law violates the right to free expression and is unconstitutional.

Quoting people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reported on Monday that while China strongly prefers that TikTok remains under the ownership of ByteDance, “Chinese officials are evaluating a potential option that involves Elon Musk acquiring the US operations of TikTok if the company fails to fend off” the ban on the app.

The report said the officials are in preliminary talks.

In one possible scenario, Musk’s social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, would take control of TikTok US and run the businesses together.

US President-elect Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to delay the implementation of the law in order to allow his incoming administration to pursue a negotiated solution to the issue.

Bloomberg News reported that, again citing people familiar with the matter, a deal with Musk, who is close to Trump, “holds some appeal for the Chinese government” at a time when Beijing is considering how to work with the US administration under Trump.