Washington DC: TikTok went offline in the US just hours before a new law banning the platform was set to take effect.
A message on the app informed users that the law had been enacted, stating, “you can’t use TikTok for now.”
It also noted that President Trump had indicated he would work on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. This move came after the platform warned the outgoing Biden administration it would “go dark” unless assurances were made that the ban would not be enforced.
President-elect Trump had previously suggested he would likely give TikTok a 90-day reprieve once he assumed office on Monday.
Reports indicated that TikTok had also been removed from Apple and Google’s US app stores, and TikTok.com was not displaying videos.
Statement on Possible Shutdown
The statements issued today by both 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 to over 170 million…
— TikTok Policy (@TikTokPolicy) January 18, 2025
The law, passed in April of the previous year, required TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell the US version of the app to a neutral party by January 19, or face an outright ban.
Since the sale was not completed, TikTok challenged the law, claiming it violated free speech protections for its 170 million US users. In the hours before going offline, content creators posted farewell videos to their followers.
TikTok users were met with a message earlier on Saturday, 18th of January, stating that the law would “force us to make our services temporarily unavailable. We’re working to restore our service in the US as soon as possible.”
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