TikTok is “in the process of restoring service” in the US after being closed for much of Sunday.
Late Saturday evening, the company voluntarily removed itself from the Apple and Google app stores, leaving 170 million users without the ability to use or download TikTok to their devices. After dark, anyone who logged into the video-sharing app received a message saying, “You cannot use TikTok for now.” But on Sunday afternoon, the company released a second statement saying it had a path to recovery of the service found. (The update did not include a timeline for restoring full service, although many users are already reporting that the app is back up and running.)
“In consultation with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service,” TikTok’s policy account reads posted on X. “We thank President Trump for providing our service providers with the clarity and assurance they need that they will not face penalties for sharing TikTok with over 170 million Americans and enabling over 7 million small businesses to thrive.” It's a strong advocacy for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.”
“There is no doubt that TikTok provides a distinctive and far-reaching means of expression, engagement, and source of community for more than 170 million Americans,” the court said in its ruling. “But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-founded national security concerns about TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary.”
The US government's measure, which initially gained momentum thanks to an executive order from President Trump's administration and was then left to Congress and President Joe Biden to enact, arose from fears that the ownership of the in China Based company ByteDance poses a national security risk to Americans. But in the days before the law went into effect, both Biden and Trump made every effort to take action to prevent the shutdown.
“We have made our position clear: the measures to implement this law will be the responsibility of the next administration,” Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said last week. The government said it was up to the new president to take the next step. In response, TikTok clarified that the app would no longer be available unless the government intervened.
In his own statement last week, President Trump said he would address the situation when he takes office on Monday, although how he would do so remains unclear. A TikTok internal memo viewed by The edgeindicated that there is hope for action and “that the teams are working tirelessly to bring our app back to the US as quickly as possible.”
Meanwhile, some TikTok users have already found their next platform. Ahead of the shutdown, media apps RedNote and Lemon8 saw a surge in new users.
Update (January 19, 1:50 p.m.): We have updated the details of this story following a statement from TikTok.
