It took TikTok an odd 12 hours to bring back its services in the US after the ban. Right when the outgoing president Joe Biden refused to make a positive decision before signing off the office, president-elect Donald Trump facilitated the way for the app to come alive in the US as expected.
The ban on popular video sharing app came into effect on Sunday, January 19, 2025 right before President elect Donald Trump takes office. However, it took only a few hours before it was up and working in the country.
“In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service,” the company shared in a statement. “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.”
After the scheduled ban, TikTok went offline on Google and Apple’s app stores on Saturday at 10:45 pm local time. The app’s parent company was told to either divest it’s share or face the shutdown. So, far the app is reportedly not showing up on these platforms, however, it should soon.
After the initial ban, TikTok had issued the following message to the users in the US on the app:
“Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now.” It added, ” A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S.. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now.” But it also expressed hope referring to Trump’s earlier remarks that he would work on a solution to reinstate the app once he takes office.
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Trump gives TikTok life after the US ban
As expected, president-elect Trump who shared that he had a “soft spot” for TikTok, has revived the app in the country after Joe Biden’s office let Trump do the work regarding its implementation. The move perfectly aligns with what Trump said just last Sunday.
President-elect Donald Trump said that he would issue an executive order to resetore TikTok because “Americans deserve to see our exciting Inauguration on Monday.” In a relief to service providers, he also said that “there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order.”
However, not all lawmakers are buying into this. Republican Senator Tom Cotton posted that “any company that hosts, distributes, services, or otherwise facilitates communist-controlled TikTok could face hundreds of billions of dollars of ruinous liability.”
The US government demands that Bytedance transfer its ownership by January 19 to continue its services in the US. The Supreme Court also decided to uphold the law in favor of the ban on video apps. However, the Chinese company states that the US move breaches the First Amendment of the US Constitution which grants the right to free speech.
With TikTok running back live, Trump and ByteDance will come to discussion on its future on a permanent basis.
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TikTok boasts over 170 million active users per month in the USA and is a major market for its revenue stream and growth.
