TikTok was killed in the US on Saturday night as a result of a federal law banning the popular short-form video app for millions of Americans. However, the company began restoring service as of noon Sunday.
TikTok users started receiving a message about the ban around 10:30 PM Eastern on Saturday night, and the app also disappeared from the Apple and Google Play app stores. As of Sunday morning, some users in the US were still able to access TikTok over the internet.
“Sorry, TikTok is currently unavailable,” the company’s message reads. “A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, this means you can’t use TikTok for now.”
The message also suggested that this may only be a temporary disappearance. TikTok credited President-elect Donald Trump with “working with us on a solution to restore TikTok once he takes office,” while urging users to “stay tuned!”
The company warned earlier this week that the app’s demise was imminent, saying on Friday that it would “go dark” unless President Joe Biden’s administration made a “definitive statement” that it would not enforce the ban.
Bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate passed legislation last April requiring TikTok owner ByteDance to either sell the app or see it banned in the United States over concerns about potential Chinese surveillance and propaganda, with Biden quickly signing on the bill. And while efforts to force ByteDance to divest date back to the first Trump administration, it has recently taken a different tone. Trump has asked the Supreme Court to delay the ban and has said he will “probably” give the company a 90-day extension.
The Supreme Court issued a ruling upholding the law on Friday. and the Biden administration seemed willing to leave the fate of implementation in the hands of the next president. White House Press Secretary Karin Jean-Pierre noted that with the law taking effect just before Trump’s inauguration on Monday, “actions to implement the law should simply rest with the next administration.” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco issued a similar statement that “the next phase of this effort — implementing and ensuring compliance with the law after it goes into effect on January 19 — will be a process that will evolve over time.”
TikTok, however, suggested that this was not enough assurance for “critical service providers” to continue to register or host the app in the United States unless the Biden administration made the aforementioned “definitive statement.” Jean-Pierre called TikTok’s response a “trick” and claimed that “there is no reason for TikTok or other companies to take action in the next few days before the Trump administration takes office on Monday.”
As for the app’s long-term prospects, Trump said he intends to “negotiate a resolution” that would likely include a sale or other concessions from ByteDance, which has repeatedly said it is not interested in selling but appears optimistic about its prospects under Trump.
Trump he repeated on NBC News on Saturday that he will “likely” give TikTok a 90-day reprieve from the ban once he takes office on Monday.
“I think that would certainly be an option that we are looking at. The 90 day extension is something that will probably be done, because it is appropriate. You know, it’s appropriate. We have to look at it carefully. It’s a very big situation,” Trump told the newspaper.
On Sunday morning, he announced that he would issue an executive order on Monday that would delay the ban and also expressed interest in a “joint venture between current owners and/or new owners in which the US would acquire 50% ownership.”
Many potential buyers have thrown their hats in the ring hoping for a shot at TikTok’s 170 million users, from billionaire Frank McCourt making a “people’s offer” to Perplexity AI proposing a merger.
There was even a report suggesting that the Chinese government was considering selling to Elon Musk as part of a larger deal with the Trump administration. A TikTok spokesperson called the report “pure fiction.”
Meanwhile, Chinese-owned alternative apps such as RedNote and Lemon8 have gained momentum as TikTok users look for alternatives. However, Lemon8 — which is also owned by ByteDance — is among the other apps now blocked.
This post has been updated to reflect that TikTok is bringing the service back. It had previously been updated to reflect Trump’s remarks on Sunday morning, as well as additional apps that have been blocked by the law.
