TikTok vanishes in US as ban takes effect and Trump hints at possible reprieve
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TikTok stopped functioning in the United States late on Saturday and vanished from Apple and Google app stores ahead of a new law requiring its shutdown, set to take effect on Sunday. The platform’s 170 million American users were met with a message referencing President-elect Donald Trump, who indicated he would “most likely” grant the app a 90-day reprieve from the ban.
“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now,” the message read. “We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned.”.
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While potentially temporary, the unprecedented shutdown of TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, is expected to have significant implications for US-China relations. The United States has never before banned a major social media platform but the law was passed overwhelmingly by Congress.
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It gives the incoming Trump administration sweeping authority to ban or seek the sale of other Chinese-owned apps. Other apps owned by ByteDance, including video editing app CapCut and lifestyle social app Lemon8, were also offline and unavailable in US app stores as of late Saturday.
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Tariffs and relationships with China could be among the first issues up for discussion when Mr Trump re-enters the White House. "The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it's appropriate," Mr Trump told NBC. "If I decide to do that, I'll probably announce it on Monday.".
