Just over 12 hours after TikTok went dark in the United States, the video sharing app is back online.
“In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service,” the company said in a statement. “We thank President Trump for providing much-needed clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will not face sanctions by providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing more than 7 million small businesses to thrive.”
A law that would either force TikTok’s parent company ByteDance to sell the app or ban it in the United States was scheduled to take effect today. The law also made it illegal for US companies to support the distribution, maintenance or update of the app.
As President-elect Donald Trump was set to take office, officials from President Joe Biden’s White House and Justice Department said they would leave law enforcement to the Trump administration, but TikTok said “critical service providers” needed a “definitive statement”, otherwise the app would go dark. And indeed, the app stopped working last night and disappeared from the Apple and Google Play app stores.
But earlier today, President-elect Donald Trump tweeted that he would issue an executive order delaying the ban and suggested he would like to see TikTok reinstated sooner because “Americans deserve to see our grand opening on Monday.” to that end, he said his order “would confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped prevent the TikTok darkness prior to my order.”
That seemed to be enough reassurance for TikTok and its service providers. The TikTok app was already working again for several TechCrunch writers by the time the company issued its statement. However, as of 1:05 p.m. east, it still seemed to be absent from Apple’s app store and Google Play.
And not all lawmakers participated. In response to TikTok’s announcement, Republicans Senator Tom Cotton posted that “any company that hosts, distributes, serves or otherwise facilitates the communist-controlled TikTok could face hundreds of billions of dollars in catastrophic liability.”
Trump’s Sunday morning post also said his “initial consideration” for a deal to keep TikTok operating in the US would involve “a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the US acquires 50% of property”.
In its statement, TikTok said it “will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that will keep TikTok in the United States.”
