TikTok shuts down as US ban takes effect

Houston: TikTok’s app effectively shut down in the US, just hours before a law banning the popular video-sharing platform was set to go into effect.

The app was shut down on Saturday.

“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now,” a message reads when American users open the app.

“We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!”

While the Biden administration dismissed TikTok’s shutdown threat as a "stunt" and handed enforcement to the Trump administration, TikTok maintained that without clear assurances, it had no choice but to suspend its services in the US.

An internal email to employees stated that President Trump has expressed his intention to work on a solution to restore TikTok once he assumes office on January 20th. TikTok assured teams are working to resume services as soon as possible.

On Saturday evening, a warning appeared in both TikTok and CapCut apps at 9 PM Easten time:

"We regret that a US law banning TikTok will take effect on January 19th, forcing us to temporarily suspend our services. We’re working to restore our service in the US as soon as possible. Thank you for your support. Stay tuned."

By 10:30 PM ET, users were blocked from accessing both apps, with TikTok displaying a message that the app "isn’t available right now," but expects resolution under President-elect Trump.

It comes after days of speculation and confusion over the platform’s future.

The Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld the divest-or-ban law, which gave TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance until Sunday to divest from the app.

The law directed Apple and Google to remove the service from app stores. It also required web-hosting firms, including TikTok's back-end cloud provider, Oracle, to stop supporting the app or face penalties that could reach into the billions of dollars, NPR reported.

Trump said Saturday that he would most likely give TikTok a 90-day extension.

“The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it’s appropriate. You know, it’s appropriate. We have to look at it carefully,” Trump said in a call with “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker. “It’s a very big situation.”

The law, which passed Congress with wide bipartisan majorities and was signed by President Biden in April, allows the president to provide a 90-day extension, as long as progress is being made toward a divestiture.

Following Friday’s Supreme Court decision, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew thanked the president-elect for his commitment to finding a solution to keep the app accessible in the US Chew, who met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago last month, is set to attend Monday’s inauguration, the Hill reported.

While the app’s message and Trump’s remarks suggest the app could be revived in the US soon, it remains unclear exactly what that would look like and how long a divestiture deal could take to hammer out.