ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, is required to sell the app to a U.S.-based buyer or face a nationwide ban.

TikTok stopped functioning for its 170 million American users after a law was enacted banning the app due to concerns from US politicians about the potential misuse of their citizens' data by Chinese officials.

Elon Musk has indicated that he’s open to resurrecting the defunct video platform, Vine, after a ban shut down TikTok over the weekend to millions of users in the U.S. Musk, who owns social media rival X,

After years of rejecting the idea of a sale of TikTok’s US assets to an American buyer in order to avert a ban, China and ByteDance may have found an owner they could live with: Elon Musk.

Joe' host Joe Scarborough expressed on Thursday's show that he has "always been horrified" by the Chinese-owned app TikTok and said Elon Musk should not be the person to take over American operations for the social platform.

Could Elon Musk save TikTok in the US? China weighs option to sell the controversial TikTok social media app's US operations ahead of looming ban

Musk acquired X (then Twitter) in October 2022 after a highly publicized back and forth, in which he gave up on the acquisition midway but ultimately closed the deal, paying $44 billion for the platform. X's user base has been on a decline since the acquisition, and advertising revenues have plummeted.

Chinese officials are reportedly exploring a backup plan for TikTok after the Supreme Court appeared unlikely to save it from a US ban. With TikTok’s legal options nearly exhausted, multiple news outlets are reporting that China is considering an option it previously said it wouldn’t: letting ByteDance sell the app.

Elon Musk criticized the situation where TikTok operates in the US, but X is banned in China, calling it unbalanced and emphasizing the need for change, while also expressing his long-standing opposition to banning TikTok.

In a recent post on X, Elon Musk voiced concerns over the ongoing tensions between the U.S. and China regarding social media platforms, specifically TikTok and X (formerly Twitter). Musk, who owns X,