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TikTok has faded for its 170 million US users after a law requiring its Chinese parent company ByteDance to either sell its stake in the app or face a ban went into effect overnight.
In a pop-up that appeared on the short-form video app ahead of a midnight deadline, the company wrote: “A law has been passed in the US to ban TikTok. Unfortunately, this means you can’t use TikTok at the moment.”
He added: “We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to restore TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!”
Otherwise, TikTok’s video feed was inaccessible to users in the US, one of its biggest markets. The app was also no longer appearing in the Apple and Google app stores.
Other ByteDance-owned apps, including video editing app CapCut and social media app Lemon8, displayed similar messages and were also unavailable in app stores.
On Friday, the US Supreme Court upheld a law passed by Congress last year that requires ByteDance to sell the platform or face a nationwide ban on Sunday, prompted by concerns that the platform could be used by Beijing for espionage or spread propaganda. TikTok has denied that the Chinese government has any influence over the app.
On Saturday, President-elect Donald Trump said he would “very likely” issue a 90-day extension of the deadline when he takes office on Monday.
However, as of midnight, companies such as Apple, Google and Oracle were banned from offering services to distribute or host the video app, or face fines of up to $5,000 per user. With the app now dark, it shows they decided the risks associated with breaking the law between the midnight deadline and Trump’s inauguration on Monday were too high. Apple, Google and Oracle did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Late Friday, TikTok said statements from the White House as well as the Justice Department had failed to provide the necessary clarity and certainty for service providers that are integral to maintaining TikTok’s availability in the US, and that without “a statement “finally to satisfy the most critical non-implementation service providers, TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Saturday said in a statement that “there was no reason for TikTok or other companies to take action in the coming days before the Trump administration takes office on Monday.”
The shutdown caps a week in which executives at TikTok and ByteDance have tried to put together a plan to avoid a shutdown, according to several people familiar with the matter.
On Friday, Trump said he had spoken with President Xi Jinping and discussed TikTok with the Chinese leader. Chinese state media said the two leaders had spoken, but did not specify whether TikTok was part of the conversation.
TikTok has said a spin-off was not technologically feasible in the time frame, while Beijing has previously indicated it would oppose any sale.
Instead, the company had pinned its hopes on Trump, who during his campaign promised to “save” TikTok. The president-elect’s interest in the app comes in part after he used the platform during last year’s election campaign to engage with young voters.
The uncertainty has led influencers to mourn the loss of the app and direct their followers to rivals like Meta’s Instagram. It also fueled chaos within the company itself. In the days before the ban, the company was quick to reassure US staff that they would still have jobs and continue to be paid even if the app was shut down, according to three people with knowledge of the situation.
Meanwhile, marketers are diverting ad spend away from the platform. One media buyer said they had stopped all their spending on the US platform. However, TikTok was still encouraging them to spend their budget on the platform in other markets, the person said.
“It’s very messy and while people are not surprised, it was really impossible to plan,” said the head of another major advertising agency.
Additional reporting by Zijing Wu in Hong Kong
