Monday 20, Jan ,2025 {HMC} TikTok said it was restoring service to users in the United States after the popular video-sharing platform went dark in response to a federal ban that US President-elect Donald Trump said he would try to pause by executive order on his first day in office.
Trump said earlier on Sunday that he planned to issue the order to give TikTok’s China-based parent company more time to find an approved buyer before the popular video-sharing platform is subject to a permanent US ban.
Trump announced the decision in a post on his Truth Social account on Sunday as millions of TikTok users in the US awoke to discover they could no longer access the TikTok app or platform.
Google and Apple removed the app from their digital stores to comply with a federal law that required them to do so if TikTok’s parent company ByteDance did not sell its US operation by Sunday.
The law, which passed with wide bipartisan support in April due to national security concerns posed by the app’s Chinese roots, allowed for steep fines for noncompliance.
Trump said his order would “extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect” and “confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order”.
The company that runs TikTok said in a post on X that Trump’s post had provided “the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans”.
Some users reported soon after TikTok’s statement that the app was working again, and TikTok’s website appeared to be functioning for at least some users. Even as TikTok was flickering back on, it remained unavailable for download in Apple and Google’s app stores.
The law gives the sitting US president authority to grant a 90-day extension if a viable sale is under way. Although investors made a few offers, ByteDance previously said it would not sell.
In his post on Sunday, Trump said he “would like the United States to have a 50 percent ownership position in a joint venture”, but it was not immediately clear if he was referring to the government or a US company.
“By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say up,” Trump wrote. “Without US approval, there is no TikTok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars – maybe trillions.”
Trump’s incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz told CNN on Sunday that the president-elect doesn’t rule out continued Chinese ownership coupled with “firewalls to make sure that the data is protected” in the US.
“We can have an app that Americans can enjoy, but at the same time that protects their data, protects them from outside influence,” he said.
On Friday, the US Supreme Court upheld a law mandating the app’s ban unless parent company ByteDance divests TikTok’s US operations.
In court, the administration of outgoing US President Joe Biden defended the law by citing concerns that TikTok collects extensive amounts of US user data, which could potentially be accessed by the Chinese government through coercion.
Officials have also cautioned that the app’s algorithm, which determines what content users see, could be manipulated by Chinese authorities to influence the platform in subtle and hard-to-detect ways.
However, the US has yet to present public evidence showing that TikTok has shared user data with Chinese authorities or altered its algorithm to serve Chinese interests.
ByteDance has denied any wrongdoing and resisted calls to sell its US operations, leaving the platform in limbo.
The US law requires Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores, blocking new downloads. The companies could face penalties of up to $5,000 per user who can access the app.
Oracle, which hosts TikTok’s servers, would also be legally obligated to enforce the ban.
Meanwhile, US-based competitors such as Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts stand to benefit from TikTok’s forced absence.
Another Chinese platform, Xiaohongshu, meaning Little Red Book, has gained traction among American users, becoming the most downloaded app on Apple’s US store this week.
Several investors have proposed last-minute solutions to keep TikTok operational.
According to media reports, Perplexity AI, an artificial intelligence startup backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, submitted a plan to merge with TikTok’s US business to create a new entity, potentially allowing ByteDance to retain partial ownership.
Other offers, including a $20bn bid from a consortium led by Canadian investor Kevin O’Leary and billionaire Frank McCourt, remain under consideration.
Experts warn that even if Trump issues an executive order to delay the ban, it may face legal challenges.
“Congress wrote this law to be virtually president-proof,” warned Adam Kovacevich, chief executive of the industry trade group Chamber of Progress.
Source: News Agencies
