US TikTok Ban: Is Elon Musk Buying TikTok? USA Supreme Court to Ban the Chinese App By January 19

US TikTok Ban: Bytedance-owned company TikTok is seemingly in trouble of getting banned in the USA. The American Supreme Court would ban the short-form video hosting platform if its proprietor ByteDance doesn’t sell off its US operations by January 19.

Why TikTok is Getting Banned in the US?

The app has been getting a ban in the country citing national security risk by FBI Director Chris Wray. The director mentioned that the Chinese app willingly does everything that the Chinese government asks them to do hence selling USA data to the rival country. The Director says, “An entity affiliated with the Chinese government owns 1% of a ByteDance subsidiary, Douyin Information Service and it has no bearing on ByteDance’s global operations outside of China, including TikTok.”

Elon Musk Buying Tiktok?

Now new reports claim that SpaceX owner Elon Musk is in talking terms with the Bytedance in buying the TikTok rights in the USA. As per the Bloomberg report, China is exploring selling the USA rights of TikTok to Elon Musk and he would oversee both X and TikTok’s US business.

However, the report further mentions a spokesperson from Tiktok stating that nothing has been confirmed and “We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction,” and hence nothing has been officially confirmed.

What Happened in the Supreme Court?

To recall, last week US Supreme Court held oral arguments from the case in which both parties presented their side. The FBI’s Wray has said that US operations of TikTok raise severe security concerns in the country as the Chinese government could influence the users or control their devices with the help of the recommendation algorithm of TikTok. However, Tiktok urges that it would never sell or share US data with the Chinese government as the company is incorporated in California and Delaware and hence abide by US laws and regulations.

Elon Musk has not confirmed anything about acquiring TikTok and nothing has been confirmed from the wealthiest businessman about having talks with TikTok and ByteDance. Nevertheless, we can’t deny the possibility of Musk taking possession of TikTok as he is known for buying several companies. To recall, the businessman bought Twitter in 2022 in a $44 billion deal and renamed it as X.

Which Other Countries Banned Tiktok

Not just the US, other countries including India, New Zealand, Norway, Netherlands, and many more have also banned TikTok in the past. India banned TikTok in 2020 due to national security concerns and a military clash with China. The ban has been made permanent in 2021.