A new US law banning TikTok has officially come into effect, following hours of disruption as the popular app ceased functioning across the country. On Saturday evening, US users of TikTok were met with a message stating that the ban had been enacted, meaning the app was no longer available for use.
The ban, which stems from concerns over TikTok’s alleged ties to the Chinese government, was triggered after ByteDance, the app’s parent company, failed to sell the platform to an approved US buyer by the 19 January deadline.
While outgoing President Joe Biden had deferred the decision to his successor, President-elect Donald Trump, he signaled that he would “most likely” offer a 90-day reprieve to TikTok once he took office on Monday. “The 90-day extension is something that will most likely be done, because it’s appropriate,” Trump told reporters, indicating a possible delay in the full enforcement of the ban.
In the meantime, users reported that TikTok had been removed from both Apple and Google’s US app stores, and the website TikTok.com displayed no videos, aligning with the terms of the ban. A message displayed within the app expressed gratitude to Trump for his willingness to collaborate on a potential solution to reinstate the platform in the future.
The move marks the first time the US has banned a major social media platform. The law, which was upheld by the US Supreme Court on Friday, prohibits TikTok’s operation unless ByteDance sells the platform to a US-based entity. With the deadline passing without a sale, TikTok has argued that the law infringes on the free speech rights of its 170 million American users.
TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, expressed appreciation for President Trump’s commitment to working on a solution and is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday.
In the final hours before the app went offline, content creators took to the platform to bid farewell to their followers. Creators like Nicole Bloomgarden shared that the ban would result in a significant loss of income, while others, like Erika Thompson, lamented the loss of educational content that had flourished on the platform.
Earlier, users saw a message from TikTok stating that the service would be temporarily unavailable in compliance with the new law, with efforts underway to restore access as soon as possible.
