- TikTok could be banned by the end of the week in the US if not sold
- Owner ByteDance has no plans to sell
- A report suggested Musk’s platform X take control of TikTok’s US operations
TikTok has denied rumours that Elon Musk was considering buying the short form video app.
Read more: Is the TikTok ban still happening? – Pubity
Currently, the app faces the possibility of a ban if Chinese owners ByteDance do not sell it. The deadline for them to do so is January 19.
President Joe Biden made moves to ban the app last year over its Chinese ownership allegedly presenting national security concerns. The US government has argued that China could use TikTok for spying and political manipulation.
TikTok has consistently denied any potential influence by the Chinese Communist Party.
It contested the potential ban in the Supreme Court by arguing that banning it could violate the free speech rights of its 170 million US users. owever, its bid to overturn the law was rejected.
A spokesperson for the platform argued that the law was based on “inaccurate, flawed and hypothetical information” and would amount to censorship.
Did Musk want to buy TikTok?
A report by Bloomberg suggested that officials were hoping to evade the ban by selling TikTok to Musk, who has owned X (formerly Twitter) since late 2022.
“We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction,” a TikTok spokesperson told BBC News. ByteDance has repeatedly said it isn’t planning to sell TikTok.
Musk and X haven’t commented on the report.
YouTuber MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, jokingly offered to buy the app. In a post on X, he wrote: “Okay fine, I’ll buy TikTok so it doesn’t get banned.”
Alternative apps to TikTok are soaring in popularity
As the ban gets closer, some of TikTok’s 170 million US users are searching for new apps to use.
Read more: Why are TikTok users flocking to RedNote and Lemon8?
Ironically, the two most popular TikTok alternatives are both Chinese owned. One is RedNote, which has been described as ‘Chinese Instagram’ and a ‘TikTok clone’, and is already at the top of the US App Store.
The other is Lemon8, TikTok’s supposed ‘sister app’, which is also owned by ByteDance. Lemon8 adverts have appeared on TikTok and TikTok has said that users can sign up to its sister app with the same username.
However, joining Lemon8 as a replacement for TikTok is potentially riskier. The law that would ban TikTok also applies to any apps owned by ByteDance, TikTok or their subsidiaries.
