TikTok announced Sunday that it would resume service to U.S. users after shutting it down the night before.
TikTok said in a statement that its video platform is coming back online after President-elect Donald Trump provided necessary assurances to its service providers.
TikTok said in a post on We thank President Trump for providing clarity and assurance to service providers.” We impact more than 170 million Americans and enable more than 7 million small businesses to thrive. ”
“This is a strong position in support of the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution to keep TikTok in the United States,” the company added. Ta.
Hours before TikTok blocked its service to Americans, President Trump posted on Truth Social urging them to continue using TikTok.
President Trump has indicated he hopes to have it available for broadcast of his inauguration ceremony on Monday.
“I will issue an executive order on Monday that will extend the time period until the legal ban goes into effect so that we can reach agreements to protect the security of our country. “It confirms that the companies that helped prevent TikTok’s blackout are not responsible,” Trump wrote.
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TikTok’s availability picked up sharply on Sunday afternoon, with its content initially accessible through a web browser. It was made available to some people later in the day and read, “Welcome back! Thank you for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the United States! You can keep creating! The company welcomed users back with the following message: Share and discover everything you love on TikTok. ”
The app was still not available for download from Apple and Google’s app stores.
The TikTok ban, which was scheduled to go into effect on Sunday, would allow the president to grant a 90-day extension for the ban to go into effect if certain criteria are met.
Under the law signed by President Joe Biden in April, TikTok would be banned unless Chinese owner ByteDance sells the company to a non-Chinese buyer.
Before the ban took effect, Biden and the incoming Trump administration appeared to reverse their previous positions on TikTok.
Trump, who advocated for a ban during his first term as president, supported TikTok and vowed to save it during the campaign.
After the Supreme Court greenlit the law on Friday, the Biden administration issued a statement saying it would not enforce the ban, leaving responsibility to President Trump.
On Saturday night, the app was removed from the app store and service for users in the United States was suspended.
TikTok’s future in the United States is still up in the air.
After TikTok came back online, some Republican lawmakers appeared to disagree with President Trump about how things would play out. “I think we’ll enforce this law,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” adding, “If President Trump publishes a truthful (social) post… , when he says, ‘Save me,’ TikTok, the way we read it is that he’s trying to force a real sale, a change of hands, an ownership.”
Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Pete Ricketts (R-Nebraska) also issued statements celebrating the ban and saying they saw no basis for an extension like President Trump’s proposed. .
“Now that the law is in effect, there is no legal basis for any kind of ‘extension’ of the effective date. For TikTok to come back online in the future, ByteDance will need to agree to a sale that meets the law’s qualified sale requirements. “We sever all ties between TikTok and Communist China,” the statement reads in part.
Even if TikTok is granted an extension, as President Trump promised in Monday’s executive order, ByteDance would still be required by law to eventually sell TikTok to a non-Chinese owner. The parent company has no interest in it.
TikTok said in its latest statement that it will “work with President Trump on a long-term solution to keep TikTok in the United States.”
President Trump has floated the idea of a 50% U.S.-owned TikTok joint venture, but even that idea faces potential hurdles. The law includes a 20% cap on “foreign adversary” ownership, so it’s not immediately clear whether ByteDance will be able to exceed that ownership percentage without changing the law. do not have.
The law defines “control by a foreign adversary” in a variety of ways, but one definition is: “A foreign person or combination of foreign persons…directly or indirectly controls at least 20% of the stock.” A company that owns a
Of course, Congress can change the law.