Will Meta acquire TikTok?

Meta has not acquired TikTok, and experts think it’s extremely unlikely that Meta will be allowed to buy TikTok, even if ByteDance is forced to sell, because of antitrust and regulatory barriers. Current ownership and the “Meta bought TikTok” rumor TikTok is still owned by ByteDance, the Chinese technology company that created and controls the platform; no official announcement or filing shows any sale of TikTok to Meta. Rumors that “Meta bought TikTok” surged in early 2025 after talk about US bans and sale deadlines, plus minor app changes that some users misread as evidence of Meta integration, but multiple news outlets have confirmed that no Meta–TikTok deal exists. Why a Meta acquisition is seen as a non‑starter US legislation and executive pressure have aimed at forcing ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US operations to a non‑Chinese owner, but antitrust experts consistently say TikTok “wouldn’t be able to clear antitrust hurdles” if the buyer were a dominant ad/short‑video platform like Meta or Google. A former DOJ antitrust official told CNN that if TikTok were sold to “Amazon, Microsoft, Google, or Meta,” regulators would show “substantial antitrust concern,” and another analyst said an acquisition by Meta or Google is an “absolute no‑go.” Because Meta already owns Instagram and Reels and is one of the two biggest digital‑ad players, combining it with TikTok would be seen as dramatically increasing market concentration in social media and short‑form video, almost guaranteed to trigger enforcement by the DOJ and FTC. Who could plausibly buy TikTok instead Names floated as more realistic buyers include Microsoft, Oracle, Walmart and various investor consortia, as well as X/Twitter under Elon Musk, who might avoid some antitrust risk while still having the capital to participate. US officials have talked about structures like “TikTok America,” with US investors and ByteDance’s stake cut below 20%, which again point toward financial or smaller‑platform buyers rather than Meta.