The TikTok logo is displayed on a mobile phone with the American flag in the background for an illustration in Krakow, Poland, on January 17.
Beata Zorzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images
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Beata Zorzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images
TikTok is no longer available to users in the United States, as a result of a controversial law that forces the popular platform offline unless it splits from its China-based owner, ByteDance.
When users tried to open the app around 10:35 PM ET, a message appeared: “Sorry, TikTok is currently unavailable.” “A law has been passed banning TikTok in the United States, and unfortunately, this means that you cannot use TikTok at this time.”
The letter then said that President-elect Donald Trump promised to “work with us on a solution to bring back TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!”
Around the same time, TikTok also stopped appearing in the Apple and Google Play app stores, preventing downloads of the app and cutting off the app from important software updates.
It is the first time in history that the US government has banned a popular social media network.
The pop-up message that millions of users across the US received when they tried to open TikTok on Saturday night, hours before the ban went into effect.
Bobby Allen/NPR
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Bobby Allen/NPR
However, the TikTok ban may be short-lived. Trump said on Saturday that he would “probably” give the app a 90-day reprieve once he takes office on Monday.
Such an extension is permitted by law, although it would require legally binding certification to Congress that steps toward divestment from ByteDance are underway.
The law, which was recently upheld by the Supreme Court, orders Apple and Google to remove the service from their app stores. It also asked web hosting companies, including TikTok’s back-end cloud provider, Oracle, to stop supporting the app or face penalties that could reach billions of dollars.
It remains to be seen how long the service will remain offline, but the development has drawn criticism from free speech advocates, who say it amounts to government censorship that America often condemns on the world stage.
The freedom of expression group PEN America attacked the Supreme Court’s decision. “Restricting access to foreign media is a hallmark of repressive governments, and we must always be careful when national security is invoked to silence expression,” the rights group said in a statement on Friday.
The possibility of shutting down TikTok in the United States has been discussed for more than four years, but is often thwarted by the courts or resolved amid political wrangling.
However, in April 2024, Congress passed the ban with overwhelming bipartisan support. Lawmakers fear ByteDance, TikTok’s owner, is being manipulated by the Chinese government, exposing Americans’ data and content feeds to the whims of a hostile regime.
Earlier this month, TikTok argued before the Supreme Court that the law represents an unprecedented suppression of free speech. However, the Supreme Court, in an unsigned unanimous decision, ruled that “divestment is necessary” to allay lawmakers’ concerns about China. Therefore, the court ruled that Congress acted lawfully when it voted to crack down on the hugely popular video app.
TikTok now faces an uncertain road ahead.
President-elect Donald Trump issued a statement after the Supreme Court ruling saying that the decision should be respected, and that his next administration would need more time to review the ruling. Trump has pledged to keep TikTok alive in the US, but how he will implement that promise remains a mystery.
One possibility is to revive the national security agreement known as Project Texas, which TikTok says it has spent more than $2 billion implementing. The plan aims to prevent any potential influence from Beijing by appointing Austin-based Oracle as an overseer of sorts for the data exchanged between ByteDance and TikTok. It also allows for third-party audits of TikTok’s content recommendation algorithm. If TikTok is determined to have violated the deal, the agreement includes a “kill switch” with which federal officials can shut down TikTok.
TikTok proposed the plan to the Biden administration, which at the eleventh hour withdrew from the agreement without ever stating a reason, according to court papers filed in TikTok’s lawsuit against the administration over the Withdraw or Ban Act.
Some longtime TikTok watchers say Trump may renew these talks and decide they represent a “qualified divestment” — meaning an arrangement in which TikTok is sufficiently distanced from ByteDance.
This decision can only be made at the discretion of the President and his administration. It gives the final say on TikTok’s future in the US to Trump. Although he promised to shut down the app during his first term, he recently said he would likely give it a 90-day reprieve once he takes office.