TikTok has gone dark in the US, the result of a federal law banning the popular short-form video app for millions of Americans — at least for now.
TikTok users started receiving messages about the ban around 10:30 pm Eastern. As of Saturday evening, the app was no longer available on the Apple or Google Play stores.
“Sorry, TikTok is currently unavailable,” the company’s message read. “A law banning TikTok has been passed in the US Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok yet.”
The message also suggests that this may be a temporary disappearance. TikTok is praising President-elect Donald Trump for indicating that he will “work with us on a solution to restore TikTok once he takes office,” with users being urged to “stay tuned!”
The company warned earlier this week that the app’s disappearance was imminent, saying Friday it would be “dark” unless President Joe Biden’s administration made a “definite statement” that it would not implement the ban.
Bipartisan officials in the House and Senate passed legislation last April requiring TikTok owner ByteDance to sell the app or see it banned in the United States over concerns about potential Chinese surveillance, which Biden quickly signed into law. the bill. And while efforts to force ByteDance to break up date back to the early Trump administration, he has taken a different tone recently. Trump asked the Supreme Court to delay the ban and said he “might” give the company 90 days.
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the law on Friday; and the Biden administration appears inclined to leave the fate of the program in the hands of the next president. The White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, noted that since the law goes into effect shortly before Trump’s inauguration on Monday, “actions to implement this law must fall to the next administration.” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco issued a similar statement that “the next phase of this effort — implementing and enforcing the law after it goes into effect on January 19 — will be a process that works over time.”
TikTok, however, suggested that this is not a sufficient guarantee for “critical service providers” to continue to list or manage the application in the United States unless the Biden administration makes the “specific statement” mentioned above. Jean-Pierre called TikTok’s response “surprising” and said “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.”
Stunt or not, TikTok is gone for now.
As for the app’s long-term prospects, Trump said he plans to “negotiate a decision” that could involve a sale or other approval from ByteDance, which has repeatedly said it is not interested in selling but appears optimistic about its prospects under Trump.
Trump also told NBC News on Saturday that he would “probably” give TikTok a 90-day ban once he takes office on Monday.
“I think that would be, certainly, an option that we’re looking at. A 90-day extension is something that is likely to be done, because it is reasonable. You know, it’s worth it. We have to look at it carefully. It’s a very big situation,” Trump told reporters.
Many potential buyers have thrown their hats in the ring, hoping to snap up TikTok’s 170 million users, from billionaire Frank McCourt making a “human bid” on Perplexity AI’s proposed merger.
There has been a report suggesting that the Chinese government is considering a sale to Elon Musk as part of a broader deal with the Trump administration. A TikTok spokesperson called the report “pure fiction.”
Meanwhile, other Chinese-owned apps like RedNote and Lemon8 have gained momentum as TikTok users look for alternatives.