TikTok went offline in the United States on Saturday night, less than two hours before a ban was set to take effect. This extraordinary blackout prevented access to one of the world’s most popular social media apps, used by 170 million Americans.
Visitors to the app were met with a message that read: “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, this means you can’t use TikTok right now.”
TikTok’s action followed the Supreme Court’s decision on Friday to uphold a ban passed with broad bipartisan support in Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden in April. The law prevents American companies from hosting or serving content for the Chinese-owned platform unless it is sold to a buyer from the United States or one of its allies.
But TikTok may not be gone for long. The company suggested its service could return soon, perhaps as early as Monday.
“We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!” a pop-up message sent to users opening the app late Saturday night stated.
President-elect Trump said in an NBC News interview on Saturday that he would likely delay the TikTok ban for 90 days after taking office, but added he had not yet made a final decision.
“I think that would certainly be an option we look at. The 90-day extension is something that will most likely be done, because it’s appropriate. You know, it’s appropriate. We have to look at it carefully. It’s a very big situation,” Trump said in the interview.
“If I decide to do that, I’ll probably announce it on Monday,” he added.
The blackout and the suggestion that it could soon be restored is the latest twist in a saga that has dragged on for months, leaving the app’s fate uncertain.
The app also disappeared from Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store. Other apps owned by TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, including CapCut, also displayed similar messages Saturday night.
Lawmakers have said TikTok’s ties to China and its access to vast amounts of data pose a national security threat.
Many U.S. users, including influencers and small businesses who rely on the platform for their livelihood, told they were bracing for the app’s end. Still, they hoped the app would somehow be saved.
But the Supreme Court’s decision dashed any hopes for a last-minute judicial intervention.
Some companies operating app stores and running computer servers were reportedly concerned that they would be held liable for violating the ban’s terms. These service providers pledged to stop carrying the app to avoid legal consequences.
Meanwhile, Trump, who warned of TikTok’s dangers five years ago, is now casting himself as the app’s potential savior. Earlier this month, on his Truth Social account, he posted statistics about his own popularity on TikTok and asked, “Why would I want to get rid of TikTok?”
TikTok CEO Shou Chew met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in the weeks leading up to the ban’s implementation and is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment late on Saturday.
A 90-Day Extension?
The law passed last year allows the president to delay the ban from taking effect for 90 days, but it requires evidence that parties involved in arranging a sale of TikTok to a U.S.-owned company have made significant progress.
However, TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, has rejected potential buyers. The company has cited TikTok’s popularity among American users and its value to small businesses across the country as it fights to remain online without any change in ownership.
After the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 to uphold the ban, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre indicated that the administration would not enforce the law on Biden’s last day in office.
“Due to the federal holiday weekend and the inauguration, actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next administration,” she said.
But TikTok was not satisfied with that statement. According to a person familiar with the matter, some service providers — companies like Google and Apple that would face hefty fines for allowing U.S. access to TikTok once the ban takes effect — told TikTok they believed they would be vulnerable under the law starting Sunday.
A source close to TikTok said “multiple critical service providers” indicated they would no longer carry the app or its data, forcing the app offline. These service providers expressed fears that the ban might be enforced starting Sunday, despite signals to the contrary from the Biden administration.
This prompted TikTok to take the app offline, at least for now.
The move, and the pop-up message mentioning Trump, could add pressure on the president-elect to negotiate a solution in the coming days or weeks.
TikTok employees were also informed by the company on Saturday that the situation was “disappointing,” but that the company was working on a solution.
“We know this is disappointing for you, not only as employees but as users. However, we are fortunate that President Trump has indicated he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please know our teams are working tirelessly to bring our app back to the U.S. as soon as possible,” read a message sent to employees.
A White House source reiterated that there will be no fines imposed by the Biden administration related to keeping TikTok active on Sunday.
At the same time, however, some Biden officials were content with TikTok being dark for one day, as the law had strong bipartisan support when it was passed.
“The decision is going to be made by the next president anyway,” Biden told reporters on Friday.
TikTok’s Final Minute
On Saturday, the White House dismissed TikTok’s warning about going dark as a “stunt.”
“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,” Jean-Pierre said. “We’ve laid out our position clearly and straightforwardly: actions to implement this law will fall to the next administration. So TikTok and other companies should take up any concerns with them.”
A TikTok spokesperson had no immediate reaction to the statement from the White House.
The company said it expected service providers — like those operating servers full of videos — to restrict access to the app at 12:01 a.m. ET on Sunday.
On Apple and Google’s app stores, the most popular free apps for the past week have been TikTok-like apps, including two owned by Chinese companies. One of them, the photo-sharing app Lemon8, is also owned by ByteDance, just like TikTok. However, Lemon8 could face the same fate as TikTok in the future.
Given Trump’s public remarks about TikTok, any blackout may not last long.
Trump is said to be considering issuing an executive order that could effectively pause the ban and provide some time to sort out a long-term solution.
But he will face pressure from multiple directions. Some Republican senators, like Josh Hawley of Missouri and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, remain strongly supportive of the ban.
“ByteDance and its Chinese Communist masters had nine months to sell TikTok before the Sunday deadline,” Cotton wrote on X.
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