TikTok blocked access for American users late Saturday night, hours before a law banning the popular video-sharing platform took effect.
When users in the United States open the app, they see a message that says, “A law has been enacted in the United States that bans TikTok. Unfortunately, this means you can't use TikTok at this time.”
“We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated he is willing to work with us on a solution to bring TikTok back after he takes office. Stay tuned!
As of Saturday at 11pm ET, TikTok appears to be unavailable for new downloads on the video-sharing platform's most popular distributors, Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store.
The announcement comes after days of speculation and confusion about the future of the platform.
The Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld a no-sale law that would allow TikTok's China-based parent company ByteDance to divest from the app by Sunday.
The Biden administration announced Friday that it has no plans to implement the law, leaving enforcement to the incoming Trump administration.
Later that day, TikTok revealed that it plans to operate “behind the scenes” until President Biden intervenes, claiming that the White House and Department of Justice failed to provide “the necessary clarity and assurances to service providers.”
The White House on Saturday called TikTok's statement a “stunt” and argued there was no need for the app to take action before Trump's inauguration on Monday.
President Trump said Saturday that he would likely extend the use of TikTok for 90 days.
“A 90-day extension is probably going to happen because it's appropriate. Well, it's appropriate. We'll have to look at it carefully,” President Trump said during an interview with “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker. said in a telephone conversation. “It's a huge situation.”
The law, passed by Congress with a bipartisan majority and signed by President Biden in April, allows the president to grant 90-day extensions as long as progress is made toward the sale.
Following Friday's Supreme Court ruling, TikTok CEO Shou Zhi Chu expressed gratitude to the president-elect for his efforts in finding a solution to keep the app accessible in the United States. expressed. Thieu, who met with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago last month, is also scheduled to attend Monday's inauguration.
The app's messages and President Trump's comments suggest the app could soon be revived in the U.S., but it remains unclear what exactly that will look like and how long it will take before a sale agreement is finalized. It remains unclear how long it will take.
It is rumored that many companies and billionaires are interested in acquiring this social media platform.
Search Engine Platform Perplexity AI made a bid It plans to merge with TikTok early Sunday, a source told The Hill. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk are also rumored to be considering a partnership, but TikTok called the speculation “completely fictional.”
Investor Kevin O'Leary announced Friday that he would provide $20 billion in cash to ByteDance to acquire the platform. O'Leary, best known for his role on “Shark Tank,” recently participated in a bid to buy the app led by billionaire Frank McCourt's Project Liberty.
But ByteDance and TikTok have long maintained that selling the app was not viable.
Meanwhile, other alternative apps like Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu may continue to see an influx of users looking for alternatives. The app quickly became the most downloaded free app on Apple's Apple Store earlier this week.
Lemon8, another ByteDance-owned app, saw a surge in user numbers this week, but the app will face similar challenges in the U.S. because the Divestment Act applies to TikTok and ByteDance's subsidiaries.
Updated at 11:15pm EST.
