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TikTok goes dark in the United States on Saturday, ahead of America’s nationwide ban on the Chinese app on Sunday
TikTok stopped working for its 170 million users in the United States late on Saturday, ahead of the nationwide ban in America that began on Sunday 19 January 2025.
The TikTok switch off in the US came after the Supreme Court on Friday upheld the divest or ban law (otherwise known as the ‘Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.’)
American users were confronted with the following message. “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.”
The app also disappeared from Apple and Google app stores late on Saturday.
TikTok goes dark
The US Congress passed a law in April 2024 mandating that parent company ByteDance either sell TikTok to a non-Chinese owner or face a total shutdown.
Shortly after that US President Joe Biden signed the bill into law.
TikTok had already been banned on US federal devices due to national security concerns. A majority of US states have also banned the app on state-owned devices.
TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance has always stated that it would rather shutter the app in the US rather than sell it, as it challenged the law in the courts.
The app had been preparing to shutdown its US operations on Sunday 19 January, a day before Donald Trump assumes power on Monday 20 January.
Trump to the rescue?
There is no doubt that Trump, who in his first term had tried to ban TikTok, has changed his mind about the Chinese app.
Late last month, Trump had urged the Supreme Court to intervene and forcibly delay implementation of Biden’s ban to give him time to find a “political resolution.”
Trump had earlier said he would most likely give TikTok a 90-day reprieve from the ban after he takes office on Monday.
Last week the Associated Press reported that Trump’s pick for national security adviser, Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, said in an interview that the president-elect is exploring options to “preserve” TikTok.
But the Chinese app went dark late on Saturday.
On Sunday, a day before his inauguration, President-elect Donald Trump posted “SAVE TIKTOK!” in a Truth Social post.
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