The Chinese government is reportedly considering a situation where ByteDance sells TikTok’s United States base to Tesla’s Elon Musk. The move will be a viable option if the US Supreme Court backs the sale or ban of the law on the app on January 19.
The bill, signed into law by President Biden in April 2024, gives TikTok’s parent company ByteDance until January 19 to divest its U.S. operations to another owner or face a ban in the country.
The US government argued that without a sale, TikTok could be used by China as a tool for spying and political manipulation. The Supreme Court appears indifferent to upholding the law ahead of the January 19 deadline for the company to sell TikTok.

In a report by Bloomberg, China would prefer the social media video content platform to stay under its ByteDance’s ownership but with a sale to Musk as they push to work with incoming president, Donald Trump.
If the plan materializes, Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) would be acquiring the TikTok US which owns about 170 million American users and billions in ad revenue.
However, the development has been disregarded as “pure fiction” by an unnamed TikTok spokesperson. The report highlighted the extent of ByteDance and TikTok’s knowledge about China’s discussions of a Musk sale. It also mentioned how the Chinese government’s influence over the platform brought about the sell-or-ban law by the US government.
TikTok’s sell or ban
On Friday, the US court held a session on whether to uphold the law that could ban TikTok in the US.
Last year, Congress passed the law with support from both the Democratic and Republican parties. This sparked a moment that signalled the culmination of years of concern about TikTok in the US, known for its viral videos and traction among young people.


The Court’s nine justices heard from lawyers representing the platform, and content creators that the ban would be a violation of free speech protections for more than 170 million users of the video content platform in the US.
According to the legislation, it does not forbid app usage but would require tech giants such as Apple and Google to stop offering it and inhibit updates, which analysts suggest would run it down over time.
Justice Department lawyer Elizabeth B Prelogar told the court that ByteDance’s ties to the Chinese government made it a national security risk. She explained that Beijing could use TikTok at any time to harm the United States.
During nearly three hours of arguments, the nine justices stressed the national security concerns that gave rise to the law in the first place, while also raising free speech questions. “Are we supposed to ignore the fact that the ultimate parent is, in fact, subject to doing intelligence work for the Chinese government?” conservative Chief Justice John Roberts asked TikTok lawyer Mr Francisco.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh drilled into concerns the US government has raised about the data the app collects on its users and how that data might be used while stating that the risks seem like a huge concern for the US future.
TikTok’s arm has repeatedly denied any potential influence by the Chinese Communist Party concerning the infiltration of the US political system. It also explained that the law violates the First Amendment free speech rights of its users.
A former US solicitor general appearing for the platform, Noel Francisco noted that a ban on the most popular speech platform for Americans could also open the door to another threat – a dangerous form of censorship.
“The government cannot restrict speech in order to protect us from speech. That’s precisely what this law does from beginning to end,” he argued.


Also, a representative for TikTok’s creators argued that they should be free to use the publisher of their choice. In the words of Jeffrey L Fisher, a Stanford University law professor representing creators who sued over the law, he told the court on Friday that the country has historically faced “ideological campaigns by foreign adversaries”. He stressed further that under the First Amendment, ordinary ideas do not represent a threat to national security.
The US Supreme Court’s concern is how the court can ignore the fact that TikTok is owned by a Chinese company, ByteDance, which is subject to Chinese law. Especially because that law allows China’s government to access and control private data the company holds?
The Court also holds that the U.S. government doesn’t have evidence that TikTok has engaged in covert content manipulation in the U.S. but its parent ByteDance has responded to China’s government demands to censor content in China and other regions.
Will TikTok be eventually banned or sold?
Earlier in December, US President-elect Donald Trump urged the court to delay its decision until he returns to the White House to enable him to seek a “political solution” to resolve the issues at hand.
The latest reports suggesting a TikTok US base sale to Elon Musk, a close associate of Trump, further show signs of TikTok rejuvenating under the incoming US administration.


The final hearing and deadline is on Jan 19. If TikTok loses its case, the app will “go dark.” App stores will remove it and other service providers will stop allowing access. The second possibility is that the Supreme Court might issue a preliminary injunction which would buy TikTok some time to get a lifeline from President-elect Donald Trump.
Thirdly, TikTok could get an extension to the January 19 deadline in order to find a buyer which seems unlikely impossible as the platform is not ready to give up its US base for sale.
The video content platform is already banned from government devices in many countries, including in the UK. It faces more complete bans in some countries, including India.
Similar Read: Canada bans TikTok operations for national security reasons.