MrBeast expresses interest in buying TikTok days before ban

With less than a week until TikTok could go dark for American users, a YouTube celebrity may be throwing his hat into the ring to purchase the platform.

YouTube creator James “Jimmy” Donaldson, popularly known as MrBeast, posted to X (formerly Twitter) on Monday: “Okay fine, I’ll buy TikTok so it doesn’t get banned.” What may have been an offhand, humorous comment, had garnered more than 32 million views, as of Wednesday.

In response, Donaldson shared another post on Tuesday: “Unironically, I’ve had so many billionaires reach out to me since I tweeted this. Let’s see if we can pull this off.”

However, Donaldson hasn’t shared further information about who these “billionaires” may be or what an actual plan of action looks like. Rather, the YouTube star has let the internet spin and speculate. Donaldson’s team did not immediately respond for comment when contacted by USA TODAY on Wednesday.

Other potential buyers:Who could buy TikTok to avoid app’s ban? Newest name being shared: Elon Musk

Legislation on TikTok ban

Last spring, President Joe Biden signed legislation into law that would ban TikTok in the U.S. if the platform’s Chinese parent company ByteDance does not sell it before Sunday, Jan. 19. If ByteDance fails to sell TikTok, the platform will become unavailable in the U.S. It will be illegal for internet hosting services and app stores to distribute it.

The legislation had been in the work for several years, getting started during President-elect Donald Trump’s first administration. Some government officials fear the platform is a national security threat, concerned that ByteDance, which is based in Beijing, is sharing U.S. user data with the Chinese government. More recently, Trump has expressed interest in “saving” the platform himself, asking the Supreme Court of the U.S. to pause the ban.

Last week, SCOTUS heard oral arguments from TikTok, which claimed the ban would be a breach of American’s First Amendment rights. As of Wednesday morning, SCOTUS had yet to release its decision.

Who is MrBeast?

Donaldson, 26, is a YouTube content creator who first gained popularity in 2017. As of Wednesday, Donaldson had 841 million YouTube subscribers, making his channel the most-subscribed on the platform.

Donaldson has recently made headlines for the debut of his first television show, “Beast Games,” produced in conjunction with Amazon Studios. Pulling inspiration from Netflix’s “Squid Game,” NBC’s defunct “Fear Factor” and CBS’s long-running “Survivor,” “Beast Games” pits 1,000 contestants against each another for a $5 million cash prize.

This article was originally published by a www.usatoday.com . Read the Original article here. .

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