TikTok goes dark for 170 million US users as Trump vows to ‘save’ app
TikTok has gone down in the US — for now.
The popular video-sharing app, used by 170 million Americans, went dark late on Saturday after TikTok’s Chinese-owned parent company announced that it would make its services “temporarily unavailable”.
US users shortly before 11pm were greeted with a message that said, “Sorry TikTok isn’t available right now”, and the site was otherwise unusable.
It came about an hour after it warned users of an imminent shut down.
“We regret that a US law banning TikTok will take effect on January 19 and force us to make our services temporarily unavailable,” the company said in a message sent to users on Saturday night.
“We’re working to restore our service in the US as soon as possible, and we appreciate your support. Please stay tuned.”
It later updated its message to say, “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!”
It also gave a link where users can log in to download their data.
The announcement drew quick reaction online, especially on X, where #SaveTikTok trended.
“TIKTOK NOOOO!!!!” one user posted with a video of a woman screaming.
“TikTok has ended,” podcaster Ian Miles Cheong posted on X shortly after the pop up message displayed on the app.
“It’s happening,” another user posted on X. “The TikTok ban in the USA is imminent yet I remain hopeful #savetiktok.”
“Violating our right to free speech over hypotheticals that have never happened is gonna be the next war cry of the revolution,” another user posted on X. “170 million Americans use TikTok which is over half the country. #scotus better rethink this. Leave us alone.”
The app’s future now rests in the hands of President-elect Donald Trump, who returns to the White House on Monday and has vowed to “save” the app, which he has credited with helping him win in November.
Mr Trump told NBC News on Saturday that he would “most likely” give TikTok a 90-day extension to work out a deal.
“We have to look at it carefully,” Mr Trump said. “It’s a very big situation.”
TikTok’s shutdown was widely anticipated after the Supreme Court upheld Congress’ law that required ByteDance to divest its stake in the company by January 19 or face a national ban.
TikTok unsuccessfully argued that the law was unconstitutional.
The multitude of users, many of them children, looking to get their fix of dance videos and cooking hacks early Sunday morning were instead redirected to a website with details about the ban.
TikTok’s apparent demise capped a months-long saga that began after Congress moved with bipartisan support to ban the app over national security concerns. TikTok and ByteDance insisted right up to the deadline that the app was not for sale, and Chinese officials vowed to block any forced divestiture.
The law requires Google and Apple to stop allowing new downloads of TikTok through their app stores or face a fine of $US5000 per user. Oracle, which provides cloud computing support for TikTok, could also face liability.
Technically, TikTok could have remained in operation for a short time for those who had already downloaded it — but it would have gone without software updates or support and gradually degraded in service.
In one of President Joe Biden’s final acts last week, he decided to punt on a decision to enforce the law that he signed — leaving it up to Mr Trump.
TikTok claimed it had no choice but to shut down because “the Biden White House and the Department of Justice have failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to the service providers that are integral to maintaining TikTok’s availability” that they would not face penalties.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called TikTok’s plan to go offline a “stunt”.
Meanwhile, TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew profusely thanked the incoming President while hinting that a potential solution was in the works in a video released shortly after the Supreme Court’s ruling on Friday.
“We are grateful and pleased to have the support of a President who truly understands our platform — one who has used TikTok to express his own thoughts and perspectives, connecting with the world and generating more than 60 billion views of his content in the process,” Mr Chew said.
Mr Chew ended the video by saying, “More to come.”
Mr Trump also signalled that he would have more to say about TikTok’s future in the coming days.
“The Supreme Court decision was expected, and everyone must respect it,” Mr Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Friday. “My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!”
Mr Trump is reportedly considering implementing an executive order that would delay enforcement of the law. However, it’s unclear if he has the legal standing to do so.
Mr Chew is slated to attend Mr Trump’s inauguration on Monday and will be seated on the dais alongside other tech titans such as Elon Musk, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Apple’s Tim Cook and Google boss Sundar Pichai.
The TikTok CEO has tried to cozy up to Mr Trump in recent weeks as the divestment deadline approached. He also met with Mr Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida following his election win.
The Justice Department and US lawmakers say the app is a spying and propaganda tool for the Chinese Communist Party — capable of mass surveillance and data collection as well as swaying public opinion for nefarious purposes.
TikTok has vehemently denied the allegations.
On Friday, the Supreme Court unanimously sided with the feds.
“Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary,” the justices said.
As The Post reported, the TikTok ban saga also has implications for other tech companies, such as Amazon and Microsoft, that have business ties with ByteDance.
