TikTok, the short-form video app owned by ByteDance, was unavailable in the United States on Saturday night due to new rules that banned the company’s apps there. On Sunday, it returned by midday.
Because of worries about its ties to the Chinese government, the video-sharing apps were banned. To avoid the ban, it was given until January 19 to be sold to a US buyer who had been approved.
President Joe Biden has stated that he would let Donald Trump handle the matter. When he takes office on Monday, the president-elect has stated that he will “most likely” grant TikTok a 90-day reprieve from a ban.
“The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done because it’s appropriate,” Trump told NBC News on Saturday.
“If I decide to do that, I’ll probably announce it on Monday.”
According to the terms of the restriction, users claimed that TikTok.com was not displaying videos and that the app had been taken down from the US app stores of Google and Apple.
Users said TikTok.com was not displaying videos in accordance with the ban’s provisions, and the app had also been taken down from the US app stores of Google and Apple.
The app’s message said, “We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office.”
Is it possible that TikTok will also be outlawed in the UK?
This is the first time a significant social media site has been banned in the US.
The law, which was imposed in April of last year, banning the app from being used in the US unless its parent company, ByteDance, based in China, sold the platform by Sunday—something it hasn’t done—was upheld by the US Supreme Court on Friday.
TikTok is arguing that the law violates upon the rights of its 170 million members to free speech.
Shou Zi Chew, the CEO of TikTok, thanked Trump for his “commitment to work with us to find a solution” in his appeal following the decision.
On Monday, Mr. Chew is expected to be present at Trump’s inauguration.
Content producers have started submitting farewell videos to their followers in the hours before the social media site went down.
According to creator Nicole Bloomgarden, not using TikTok would result in a large pay reduction, she told the BBC.
Erika Thompson, another user, stated that the “biggest loss” for the community will be the platform’s educational content.
Earlier on Saturday, TikTok users received a notification stating that the law would “force us to make our services temporarily unavailable. We’re working to restore our service in the U.S. as soon as possible.”
The UK has no intentions to prohibit TikTok, a government minister told the BBC on Sunday.
“We won’t be following the same path as the Americans unless or until… there is a threat that we are concerned about in the British interest, and then of course we will keep it under review,” Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones said.
Due to security concerns, the app was removed from government devices and the UK Parliament in 2023.
But Jones told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that “for consumers who want to post videos of their cats dancing, that doesn’t seem like a security threat to me”.
