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TikTok goes dark in US; disappears from Apple, Google app stores
President-elect Donald Trump, ahead of his January 20 inauguration, said that after taking charge he is likely to give TikTok a 90-day extension from the ban.
TikTok has stopped working for users in the United States and disappeared from the Apple and Google app stores as the law banning the social media platform takes effect on Sunday.
The app, which is used by 170 million Americans, sent a message to its users: "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,” the message said. “Please stay tuned!”
Ahead of his January 20 inauguration, US President-elect Donald Trump said that he would "most likely" give TikTok a 90-day extension from the ban after he takes office on Monday.
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Trump told NBC News that the extension decision will likely be made "because it is appropriate".
When users tried to login to TikTok, owned by ByteDance, late on Saturday, they were met with a pop-up message that said the law would “force us to make our services temporarily unavailable. We're working to restore our service in the U.S. as soon as possible.”
On Friday, the US Supreme Court upheld the law banning the video-sharing platform due to national security concerns over a Chinese company owning the app.
While millions of Americans are blocked from using the platform, the US top court had ruled that the law did not violate the right to free speech as argued by ByteDance. It had said that the security concerns raised by the US government were paramount.
However, according to a Reuters report, it remained unclear as to how many US users could still access the app. But, the content sharing platform was no longer working for many users, neither on the app nor on the website.
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The White House on Saturday, meanwhile, reiterated that it was up to the incoming Trump administration to take action over the ban on TikTok.
"We see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take actions in the next few days before the Trump administration takes office on Monday," press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre of the outgoing Joe Biden administration said in a statement.
Additionally, the Chinese embassy in Washington accused the US of using unfair state power to suppress TikTok, saying that "it will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests".
