Musk’s TikTok takeover won’t save it: Catherine Thorbecke

Key topics.Musk aims to merge TikTok with X for his "everything app" vision.TikTok's sale seen as a way to address US fears of Chinese data misuse.Critics warn Musk's track record may not safeguard TikTok's future or users..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here..The seventh BizNews Conference, BNC#7, is to be held in Hermanus from March 11 to 13, 2025. The 2025 BizNews Conference is designed to provide an excellent opportunity for members of the BizNews community to interact directly with the keynote speakers, old (and new) friends from previous BNC events – and to interact with members of the BizNews team. Register for BNC#7 here..By Catherine Thorbecke___STEADY_PAYWALL___.The idea of Elon Musk as a potential buyer for TikTok may seem like the craziest development yet in the saga of the US government's determination to ban the app. But it's not as out-of-left-field as it sounds, and would carry its own potential harms. .The world's wealthiest man has long said he hopes to create an "everything app," and incorporating TikTok into X, formerly Twitter, would take him a step toward that goal. It could also offer a potential goldmine of training content for his artificial intelligence startup, xAI. And as a close ally of incoming President Donald Trump, who campaigned to save the app, it's less surprising that his name came up as part of potential deal-making with Beijing. TikTok has all but exhausted its legal avenues to overturn the law that would ban the platform in the US if it isn't sold by it's Chinese parent company, ByteDance Ltd..TikTok is fighting for its future in the US as the threat of Chinese cyber-espionage has emerged as a sensitive issue in Washington. The US Treasury Department said last month that it was hacked by a Beijing state-sponsored actor, just days after the White House disclosed that nine telecommunications firms had been breached by a Chinese group. Before the Supreme Court last Friday, the representative for the US government referenced these attacks, saying that China has a "voracious appetite to get its hands on as much information about Americans as possible.".The law to ban TikTok targets "covert content manipulation by a foreign adversary," the US Solicitor General argued before the high court, saying the Beijing could "secretly manipulate" the platform to advance its agenda. The government also maintained that TikTok's ability to collect troves of US user data constitutes a threat to national security..Musk may assuage Washington's fears that the app could be used to by Beijing to manipulate Americans' opinions. But the billionaire's takeover would also show that money and power can buy social media influence campaigns, although perhaps less covert ones. And Beijing's hacking attacks, as well as loose US data protection laws, reveal China has other methods to glean Americans' digital data. This should be a wake-up call for Congress that comprehensive regulations to protect citizens on all platforms from risks of abuse, regardless of where an app's parent company is based, is long overdue. .Since Musk acquired X more than two years ago, the platform has become a cesspool of right-wing misinformation and racism that has had real-world consequences, from riots this past summer in England to false claims that Haitian immigrants were eating pets in Ohio just weeks before the US presidential vote..Read more: 🔒 Chinese officials consider sale of TikTok US to Elon Musk as one possible option.He tweaked its terms of service to allow users' data to train his AI models and reportedly ordered major changes to X's algorithm to increase his own influence over the platform. Employees and leaked documents have indicated that Musk created a special system to show users his own posts first. Separate reporting suggests he lent his might to boost MAGA and pro-Trump content on X in the lead-up to the election. And it's not like this was done to support business: By some estimates, X has shed nearly 80% of its value since his November 2022 acquisition..If Musk's deconstruction of X indicates what's in store for TikTok, it's not likely to be a win for the more than 170 million American users. He has fired hundreds of staff and dismantled much of what made the platform most useful. Once the go-to place for real-time information during breaking news events, X users now are more likely to find AI-generated images or anti-DEI rage bait when they're logging on to seek the latest information on the wildfires in Los Angeles. Swaths of users, brands and advertisers have decamped to competitors, from Meta Platforms Inc.'s Threads to upstart Bluesky..A Musk takeover of TikTok remains far from a done deal. It would require a wildly complex spinoff, and it's not immediately clear how he would fund a purchase. TikTok has said it "can't be expected to comment on pure fiction." Musk has weighed in with laughing emojis. But it is telling that Chinese officials are reportedly even in discussion about an option that would involve him acquiring the US operations..In the past, China has signalled a complete rejection of a sale, tweaking its export laws in a display of fierce opposition. The legal battle has shifted since then. The Tesla Inc. chief executive officer is also one of the few American business leaders left with major exposure to China's market via his electric vehicle company. Beijing is likely aware it can still wield some power over Musk's empire. .TikTok creators, meanwhile, have been flocking to another Chinese social media platform, Xiaohongshu or "RedNote," and urging their followers to do the same. They're using this protest to point out what many see as absurdities with the government's move to single out just one app. A top comment with more than 73,000 likes on a viral TikTok video posted Tuesday read: "I'd rather lose it than have it be bought by Musk honestly.".Musk may be able to prevent TikTok from being banned due to Beijing's threats, but his track record shows he likely won't save it from being used to influence Americans or collect vast amounts of their data. Washington shouldn't overlook these risks either. .Read also:.🔒 Elon Musk and today's robber barons hiding in plain sight: Max HastingsElon Musk hits historic $400bn net worth milestone🔒 FT: Elon Musk is the right man in the wrong continent.© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.

Musk’s TikTok takeover won’t save it: Catherine Thorbecke

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