TikTok has officially gone dark in the U.S., since the law passed last year is active. The app is gone from Apple and Google stores, can’t be used on the web, and people who open it can no longer watch videos.
The shutdown takes away a social app used by 170 million people in the US, based on TikTok’s own data. Other social apps have had outages, even long ones, but none as big as TikTok has gone offline and unlike Bravo Six there is no clear sign of if or when it will return.
This comes even after the Biden administration claimed it is transferring enforcement duties back to the Trump administration and labeled TikTok’s threat to shut down as a “publicity stunt.” TikTok has maintained that without more definitive guarantees, it must cease operations in the United States.
Within TikTok, an email sent to staff mentioned that “President Trump has expressed his willingness to collaborate with us on a resolution to restore TikTok once he assumes office” on January 20th, and that “teams are diligently striving to restore our app in the U.S. at the earliest opportunity.”
A warning message started appearing in TikTok’s app around 9PM ET on Saturday evening, telling users of the pending shutdown:
We regret that a US law banning TikTok will take effect on January 19th and force us to make our services temporarily unavailable.
We’re working to restore our service in the US as soon as possible, and we appreciate your support. Please stay tuned.
The app began blocking users around 10:30PM ET. A message now appears saying the app “isn’t available right now” but that the company expects a resolution under President-elect Trump:
Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now
A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now.
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!
Several other apps owned by TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, have also been taken offline, including the video editor CapCut and the social platform Lemon8.
The ban-or-divest legislation, set to take effect on Sunday, essentially prohibits TikTok unless ByteDance divests a significant portion of its ownership in the platform. However, ByteDance has demonstrated minimal inclination to sell, even as the deadline draws near. Instead, TikTok initiated legal action against the US regarding the law, ultimately losing in a Supreme Court ruling last week.
TikTok’s revised approach seems to focus on appealing to Trump, who — after initially advocating for the ban — has recently expressed a desire to find a way for the app to continue operating. Earlier today, he proposed a 90-day extension for ByteDance to meet the sell-off deadline.
