TikTok is going dark in the US

TikTok has gone dark in the United States, 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 a message about the ban around 10:30 pm Eastern on Saturday night, and the app also disappeared from the Apple App Store and Google Play.

“Sorry, TikTok is not available right now,” the company’s message read. “A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, this means you can’t use TikTok for now.”

The message also suggests that this may only be a temporary disappearance. TikTok credits President-elect Donald Trump for indicating “he will work with us on a solution to restore TikTok once he takes office,” with users invited to “stay tuned!”

The company warned earlier this week that the app’s demise was imminent, saying on friday that “it would be dark” unless President Joe Biden’s administration made a “definitive statement” that it would not enforce the ban.

Bipartisan majority in the House and Senate passed a law last April requiring TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, to sell the app or see it banned in the United States over concerns about potential Chinese surveillance and propaganda, with Biden quickly signed the bill. And while efforts to force ByteDance to yield going back to the first Trump administration, it has taken on a different tone recently. Trump asked the Supreme Court to delay the ban and he said he would “probably” give the company a 90-day extension.

The Supreme Court issued a decision keep the law on friday; and the Biden administration seemed inclined leaving the fate of the app in the hands of the next president. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that with the law taking effect just before Trump’s inauguration on Monday, “actions to implement the law should only come down to the next administration”. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco issued a similar statement that “the next phase of this effort — implementing and ensuring compliance with the law after it takes effect on January 19 — will be a process that will unfold over time “.

TikTok, however, suggested that this was not enough assurance for “critical service providers” to continue listing or hosting the app in the United States unless the Biden administration made the “definitive statement ” mentioned above. Jean-Pierre called TikTok’s response “a stunt” and said that “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 resolution” that would presumably involve a sale or other concessions from ByteDance, which he has repeatedly said is not interested in selling. seems optimistic about its prospects under Trump.

Trump he repeated to NBC News on Saturday that he will “probably” give TikTok a 90-day waiver from the ban once he takes office on Monday.

“I think that would be, certainly, an option that we will look at. The 90-day extension is something that will most likely be done, because it is approved. You know, it is appropriate. We will look at it carefully. It is a very big situation,” he said. Trump at the outlet.

Sunday morning, issued an executive order On Monday he delayed the ban, and also expressed interest in a “joint venture between the current owner and/or new owners in which the United States would obtain 50% ownership.”

Several potential buyers have thrown their hats in the ring, hoping for a shot at TikTok’s 170 million users, from billionaire Frank McCourt make a “people’s offer” to Perplexity AI offers a fusion.

There was also a report suggesting that the Chinese government was considering a sale to Elon Musk as part of a broader deal with the Trump administration. A TikTok spokesperson called that report “pure fiction.”

Meanwhile, Chinese alternative apps like RedNote and Lemon8 have received a boost as TikTok users look for alternatives. However, Lemon8 – which is also owned by ByteDance – is among them other apps that are now blocked.

This post has been updated to reflect Trump’s statements Sunday morning, as well as additional applications that have been blocked by law.