TikTok Service Restoration in the U.S.
TikTok is currently in the process of restoring its service in the United States after facing a shutdown for a significant portion of Sunday.
Late Saturday night, TikTok voluntarily removed itself from Apple and Google’s app stores, leaving 170 million users unable to use or download the app. Users who attempted to access the platform were greeted with a message stating that TikTok was temporarily unavailable. However, on Sunday afternoon, TikTok released a statement indicating that they had found a way to restore service, although no specific timeline was provided. Many users have reported that the app is already operational.
According to TikTok’s Policy account post, “In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for the clarity and assurance provided to our service providers, ensuring that over 170 million Americans and 7 million small businesses can continue to thrive. This is a strong stance for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We are committed to working with President Trump on a lasting solution to keep TikTok in the United States.”
The U.S. government’s decision to take action against TikTok stemmed from concerns about national security risks due to its ownership by the Chinese-based company ByteDance. Although the law was set to come into effect under the Trump administration, it ultimately fell to Congress and President Biden to enact it. Prior to this, both Biden and Trump delayed taking any action to prevent the shutdown.
With the White House press secretary stating that the implementation of the law would be the responsibility of the incoming administration, TikTok warned that the app would cease to operate if the government did not intervene.
President Trump expressed his intention to address the situation upon taking office, but the specifics of his plan remained unclear. An internal memo from TikTok suggested that efforts were being made to bring the app back to the U.S. promptly.
Amidst this uncertainty, some TikTok users have already begun transitioning to alternative platforms. Apps such as RedNote and Lemon8 experienced an influx of new users leading up to the TikTok shutdown.
Update (Jan. 19, 1:50pm): We have updated details of this story following a statement from TikTok.