TikTok goes offline in the United States

TikTok has been shut down in the United States, the result of a federal law that bars the popular short-form video app from being available to millions of Americans — at least for now.

TikTok users began receiving messages about the ban around 10:30 pm ET on Saturday night, and the app disappeared from the Apple and Google Play app stores.

“Sorry, TikTok is currently unavailable,” the company's message read. “The United States has enacted laws banning TikTok, which unfortunately means you can't use TikTok now.”

The news also suggests that this may only be a temporary disappearance. TikTok praised President-elect Donald Trump, saying “he will work with us on solutions to restore TikTok once he takes office” and urged users to “stay tuned!”

The company warned earlier this week that the app was about to disappear, and said on Friday it would “disappear” unless President Joe Biden's administration makes a “final statement” that it will not enforce the ban. “.

Last April, bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate passed a law requiring TikTok owner ByteDance to sell the app or ban it in the U.S. over concerns about potential Chinese surveillance and propaganda. Sign the bill soon. While efforts to force ByteDance to divest date back to Trump's first administration, he has taken a different tone recently. Trump asked the Supreme Court to delay the ban and said he would “probably” grant the company a 90-day extension.

The Supreme Court issued a ruling Friday upholding the law; the Biden administration appears inclined to leave the app's fate to the next president. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre noted that with the law taking effect on the eve of Trump's inauguration on Monday, “action to implement it must be the responsibility of the next administration.” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Mona Lisa Monaco issued a similar statement, saying that “the next phase of this work — implementing and ensuring compliance with the law after it takes effect on January 19 — will be one that unfolds over time. process.”

However, TikTok said that this would not be enough to guarantee that “critical service providers” would continue to list or host the app in the United States unless the Biden administration makes the above-mentioned “final announcement.” Jean-Pierre called TikTok's response a “stunt” and claimed there was “no reason for TikTok or other companies to take action in the days before the Trump administration takes office on Monday.”

Stunt or not, TikTok is now gone.

As for the long-term prospects of the app, Trump said he plans to “negotiate a solution” that could involve a sale or other concessions from ByteDance, which has repeatedly said it is not interested in a sale but appears to have The outlook under Trump is optimistic.

Trump reiterated to NBC News on Saturday that he would “probably” give TikTok a 90-day reprieve from the ban after taking office on Monday.

“I think that's certainly an option that we're looking at. A 90-day extension is the most likely thing to get done because it's appropriate. You know, it's appropriate. We'll have to look at it carefully. It's a very big one situation,” Trump told the media.

On Sunday morning, he said he would issue an executive order on Monday delaying the ban and also expressed interest in “a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners in which the United States would take 50 percent ownership.”

From billionaire Frank McCourt's “People's Bid” to Perplexity AI's merger proposal, many potential buyers have stepped in to get a piece of TikTok's 170 million users.

There are even reports that the Chinese government is considering selling shares to Elon Musk as part of a broader deal with the Trump administration. A TikTok spokesperson called the report “pure fiction.”

Meanwhile, local Chinese apps like RedNote and Lemon8 have also seen growth as TikTok users look for alternatives. However, Lemon8 (also owned by ByteDance) is one of the other apps currently blocked.

This article has been updated to reflect Trump's statement on Sunday morning, as well as the additional apps that have been legally blocked.