TikTok has gone dark in the US, the result of a federal law banning the popular short-form video app from millions of Americans — at least for now.
TikTok users began receiving a message about the ban around 10:30 PM ET 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 could still access TikTok via the internet.
“We’re sorry, TikTok is currently unavailable,” the company’s message said. “A law has been passed in the US that bans TikTok, unfortunately that means you can’t use TikTok right now.”
The message also suggests that this may only be a temporary disappearance. TikTok credits President-elect Donald Trump with the fact that “he will work with us on a solution to restore TikTok once he takes office,” with users urged to “stay tuned!”
The company warned earlier this week the app’s demise was imminent, saying on Friday 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 a law last April that requires TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, to either sell the app or see it banned in the United States over concerns about possible Chinese surveillance and propaganda. , with Biden quickly signing the bill into law. And while efforts to force ByteDance to pay go back to the first Trump administration, it has taken a different tone recently. Trump asked the Supreme Court to delay the ban and said he would “most likely” give the company a 90-day extension.
The Supreme Court issued a ruling upholding the law on Friday; and the Biden administration seemed inclined to leave the app’s fate in the hands of the next president. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre noted that with the law taking effect shortly before Trump’s inauguration on Monday, “enforcement actions should simply fall to 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 takes effect on January 19 — will be a process that will unfold over time. “.
However, TikTok suggested that this was not enough assurance for “critical service providers” to continue listing or hosting the app in the United States unless the Biden administration makes the aforementioned “final statement.” Jean-Pierre called TikTok’s response “a stunt” and claimed that “there is no reason for TikTok or other companies to take action in the coming days before the Trump administration takes office on Monday.”
Gimmick or not, TikTok is gone for now.
As for the app’s long-term prospects, Trump has said he plans 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 seems optimistic about its prospects under Trump.
Trump reiterated to NBC News on Saturday that he will “most likely” give TikTok a 90-day reprieve from the ban after he takes office on Monday.
“I think that would be, of course, an option that we look at. The 90 day extension is something that will most likely be done because it is convenient. You know, it’s convenient. We have to watch it carefully. It’s a very big situation,” Trump told the newspaper.
On Sunday morning, he tweeted that he would issue an executive order on Monday delaying the ban, and he also expressed interest in a “joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners, with the US taking a 50% ownership.”
Many potential buyers have thrown their hats into the ring, hoping for a shot at TikTok’s 170 million users, from billionaire Frank McCourt making a “people offer” to Perplexity AI proposing a merger.
There was even a report suggesting that the Chinese government was considering a sale to Elon Musk as part of a broader deal with the Trump administration. A TikTok spokesperson called that report “pure fiction.”
Meanwhile, Chinese-owned alternative apps like RedNote and Lemon8 have gotten a boost as TikTok users look for alternatives. However, Lemon8 – which is also owned by ByteDance – is among the other apps that have now been blocked.
This post has been updated to reflect Trump’s statements Sunday morning, as well as additional apps that have been blocked by the law.
