TikTok shut down in the U.S. 90 minutes before a federal ban was set to take effect on Sunday night.
At around 10:30 p.m., users opening the app were greeted with a message saying, “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now... Continue reading here ▶
A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S., which means you can’t use TikTok for now. However, President Trump has said he will work on a solution to bring TikTok back once he takes office. Please stay tuned!”
Users were then given two options: either close the app or click “learn more,” which simply brought them back to the same screen.
The shutdown followed a Supreme Court ruling that upheld a law banning TikTok in the U.S., citing national security concerns.
The law, signed by President Joe Biden in April, required TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app or face a ban. ByteDance had 270 days to comply, but the deadline passed on Saturday night without a buyer stepping forward.
Supporters of the ban argue that ByteDance’s ownership gives the Chinese government potential access to U.S. users’ private information and the ability to spread propaganda.
TikTok, however, claims it has taken steps to separate U.S. user data from ByteDance and says banning the app violates free speech and could harm millions of users who earn a living on the platform. Around 7 million Americans make money through TikTok.
In a last-minute effort to save TikTok, artificial intelligence company Perplexity AI proposed a merger with TikTok U.S. and other partners.
This plan, submitted on Saturday, would have allowed many investors to keep their stakes. However, the merger would have taken months to finalize, leaving no immediate solution.
After the Supreme Court ruling, TikTok warned it would shut down in the U.S. unless the Biden administration clarified how the ban would be enforced. Tech companies like Google and Apple worried about facing heavy penalties if they continued hosting the app.
President-elect Donald Trump, who had previously pushed for TikTok’s removal, has now promised to work on saving it.
He hinted at granting a 90-day extension, calling it a “reasonable” option. However, Trump’s second term does not begin until January 20, and it’s unclear if he will be able to secure a long-term solution.
Even if TikTok gets a temporary reprieve, there are no guarantees about what will happen once the extension ends. This situation is unprecedented in the U.S., and ByteDance has suggested it does not plan to sell TikTok. The future of the app in America remains uncertain.
