Is Elon Musk Buying TikTok? Update After the App Was Banned

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The future of TikTok is in limbo, as the company is in desperate need of a buyer by its deadline this Sunday. Find out what’s going on with the app’s possible ban below.

Why Was TikTok Banned in the U.S.?

Parent company ByteDance’s popular app TikTok, is at risk for being banned in the U.S. if nobody purchases it by January 19, 2025. The app is up for being banned from the U.S. due to security concerns, because the app collects “excessive data harvesting,” and could allow the Chinese government to allegedly spy on American users, as reported by BBC.

Did Elon Musk Buy TikTok?

As the deadline approaches before TikTok officially gets banned, Elon Musk may be the newest candidate to possibly buy the popular app. Dan Ives, who is the Managing Director at Wedbush Securities shared that Chinese President, Xi Jinping and Elon share “a strong relationship.” He went on to add in his analyst note that: “[Musk] is likely one of many options that ByteDance is exploring with the Supreme Court case awaiting final judgement, and the January 19th TikTok ban or divest deadline looming,” as reported by USA Today. Dan continued to explain why Elon would theoretically be a top contender, and stated: “Given the strong and growing alliance between Trump and Musk, this is not a total shock route, as behind the scenes, the Trump White House is looking at alternatives, if the Supreme Court upholds the ban.”

Elon donated a hefty amount of $250 million for Trump’s re-election campaign, according to MSNBC. Elon was also appointed as one of the people to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, which focuses on decreases the government’s spending. Despite the bonds that Elon has with Trump and the Chinese President, a TikTok spokesperson denied the reports and shared with NewsWeek: “We cannot be expected to comment on pure fiction.”

Will You Lose Your TikTok Account?

If TikTok does get banned, users will still be able to scroll and upload content if they already have the app on their phone. But if you don’t have the app already download on your phone before January 19, moving forward, you can no longer get it from Apple’s App Store or the Google Play Store, according to E! News. Users who remain on the app won’t be able to install app updates, which means that long-term, the app may become unusable. Joseph Lorenzo Hall, who is an Internet Society Technologist, explained to Wired: “The app will start to decay and rot, as either services stop working — things like content distribution networks or services, who feel like they can’t take the risks of the ambiguous nature of the language, or the potential enforcement by the incoming administration.”