TikTok restoring service after Trump vows executive order pausing ban

TikTok announced it is restoring work Sunday aft President-elect Donald Trump said helium would contented an enforcement bid to intermission the prohibition connected the wildly fashionable app.

TikTok unopen down operations precocious Saturday night, hours earlier a prohibition connected the app was acceptable to instrumentality effect. Anyone opening the TikTok app was greeted with a abbreviated connection and incapable to bash thing else.

“We regret that a U.S. instrumentality banning TikTok volition take effect connected January 19 and unit america to marque our services temporarily unavailable,” the archetypal connection read. “We’re moving to reconstruct our work successful the U.S. arsenic soon arsenic possible, and we admit your support. Please enactment tuned.”

“Scrolling Twitter due to the fact that TikTok is gone but every tweet is astir TikTok,” 1 societal media idiosyncratic observed aft the ban.

Just a fewer hours later, the message was changed to read successful part: “We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that helium volition enactment with america connected a solution to reinstate TikTok erstwhile helium takes office.”

Trump, who volition beryllium sworn successful Monday, has gone backmost and distant connected a TikTok ban during his governmental career. In June 2020, helium said helium was considering a prohibition and successful August 2020 helium issued a vague enforcement bid astir the app.

But aft President Biden signed the existent prohibition — which passed Congress with bipartisan support — into instrumentality successful April 2024, Trump started to reason that helium would “save TikTok” if elected.

On Sunday morning, helium posted connected societal media that helium would contented a 90-day hold and intermission the law. However, his projected solution progressive TikTok proprietor ByteDance selling a 50% involvement successful the app to U.S. interests.

ByteDance has said antecedently that it has nary plans to merchantability TikTok. Several deals person been proposed that would spot U.S.-based corporations instrumentality power of the app, but nary person been completed.

“Without U.S. approval, determination is nary Tik Tok,” Trump wrote Sunday morning. “With our approval, it is worthy hundreds of billions of dollars – possibly trillions.”

TikTok’s abrupt shutdown Saturday nighttime came arsenic a astonishment to many. Tech experts said the alleged “TikTok ban” instrumentality did not really forestall the app from functioning successful the U.S. but alternatively banned it from exertion stores. TikTok was so removed from Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store, truthful it tin nary longer beryllium downloaded done large channels.

“In statement with our work providers, TikTok is successful the process of restoring service,” the institution posted soon aft noon Sunday. “We convey President Trump for providing the indispensable clarity and assurance to our work providers that they volition look nary penalties providing TikTok to implicit 170 cardinal Americans and allowing implicit 7 cardinal tiny businesses to thrive. It’s a beardown basal for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We volition enactment with President Trump connected a semipermanent solution that keeps TikTok successful the United States.”

Originally Published: January 19, 2025 astatine 12:45 PM EST