TikTok announced on Sunday that it would restore service to U.S. users just hours after the video app went dark due to a nationwide ban.
In a statement released on January 19, TikTok said that President-elect Donald Trump had provided “necessary clarity and assurance” that the app won't face any penalties if it continues to provide service in America.
“In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. 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,” TikTok said in a statement.
The company continued: “It’s a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.”
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When users opened their apps after service was restored, another pop-up message read: “Welcome back! Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump's efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.! You can continue to create, share, and discover all the things you love on TikTok.”
The news comes less than 24 hours after the app became unusable in the U.S. following the Supreme Court upholding a law that would ban TikTok unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, sold the app. The unanimous decision backed up the Biden administration's “national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary.”
Users were met with two pop-up messages on Saturday night; the first was a simple warning that a U.S. law banning TikTok will render “our services temporarily unavailable.” Shortly after, the app sent another message that named President-Elect Donald Trump specifically.
“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately that means you can’t use TikTok for now,” the message read, before forcing users to close the app. “We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office.”
While Trump is now working to find a solution to reverse the ban once he takes office on January 20, many have pointed out that it was actually Trump who began the process of banning the app in 2020. During his first term of presidency, Trump signed an executive order that imposed sanctions on TikTok, requiring the app to sell its assets to an American company. At the time, he said that threats posed by TikTok constituted a national emergency.
