- TikTok says it is ‘restoring service’ in the United States.
- The company had turned off its app for its 170 million US users on Saturday.
- President-elect Donald Trump said he will issue an executive order on Monday to delay a TikTok ban.
TikTok said on Sunday it is “restoring service” after shutting down its app in the United States to comply with a divest-or-ban law.
The app began coming back online for some US users who access the social media site through web browsers. The mobile app appeared to still be down, although the message announcing that it was unavailable had changed.
“In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service,” TikTok wrote in a statement to Business Insider. “We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive.
President-elect Donald Trump said on social media on Sunday morning he would issue an executive order to extend the time before “the law’s prohibitions take effect,” adding that “there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark” before the order.
The company said it will work with President Trump on a “long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.”
TikTok switched off its app for its 170 million US users on Saturday, shortly before a legally imposed deadline for owner ByteDance to sell the US version of the app or effectively cease operating in the country. Apple and Google have both removed TikTok from their stores.
The TikTok shutdown followed a drawn-out legal battle over the ban-or-divest law, which was passed by Congress last year. The law requires TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app’s US operations by January 19 or be banned.
As the deadline neared, a message on the app popped up at around 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday: “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now.”
“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US. 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!”
As of Sunday morning, a different message now pops up for US users saying that TikTok is “temporarily unavailable” and “we’re working hard to resolve this issue,” with no mention of an app ban.
TikTok had argued that the law violated the First Amendment rights of TikTok and its creators, but the Supreme Court ruled against the company on its challenge.
