By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – TikTok stopped working for its 170 million American users on Saturday before a law shutting it down on national security grounds took effect on Sunday, but a day before the his inauguration, President-elect Donald Trump said “SAVE TIKTOK!” in a post on Truth Social.

Trump earlier said he would likely give TikTok a 90-day reprieve from the ban after he takes office on Monday, a promise TikTok cited in a notice posted to users of the app.

“A law banning TikTok has been implemented in the US. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok at the moment. We are lucky that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to restore TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned,” a message informed users of TikTok, which disappeared from the Apple (NASDAQ: ) and Google (NASDAQ: ) app stores on Saturday.

Although temporary, the unprecedented shutdown of TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, is set to have a major impact on US-China relations, US domestic politics, the social media market and millions Americans who depend on the app economically and culturally. .

The United States has never banned a major social media platform. The legislation passed by a majority in Congress gives the incoming Trump administration the authority to ban or seek the sale of other Chinese-owned apps.

Other ByteDance-owned apps, including video editing app CapCut and lifestyle social app Lemon8, were also offline and unavailable in US app stores as of late Saturday.

“A 90-day extension is something that will probably be done, because it’s appropriate,” Trump told NBC. “If I decide to do that, I’ll probably announce it on Monday.”

It’s unclear if any US users can still access the app, but it’s no longer working for many users, and people trying to access it through a web application are met with the same message that TikTok has stopped working.

TikTok, which has captivated nearly half of all Americans, powered small businesses and shaped online culture, warned Friday that the U.S. would go dark on Sunday unless President Joe Biden’s administration provides assurances to companies like of Apple and Google that they cannot deal with. enforcement actions when the ban takes effect.

DIFFERENT FROM ALTERNATIVES

Under the law passed last year and upheld on Friday by a unanimous Supreme Court, the platform has until Sunday to cut ties with its China-based parent or close its US operations to address concerns that it threatens national security.

Biden’s White House reiterated on Saturday that it is up to the incoming administration to act.

“We see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take actions in the next few days before the Trump administration takes office on Monday,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. statement.

TikTok did not respond to a request for comment on the White House statement.

The Chinese embassy in Washington on Friday accused the US of using unfair state power to suppress TikTok. “China is taking all necessary measures to resolutely protect its legitimate rights and interests,” a spokesman said.

Uncertainty over the app’s future has sent users – mostly young people – scrambling for alternatives including China-based RedNote. Rivals Meta (NASDAQ: ) and Snap saw their share prices rise this month ahead of the ban, as investors bet on an influx of users and advertising dollars.

“This is my new home now,” wrote one user in a RedNote post, tagged with the words “tiktokerrefugee” and “sad”.

Minutes after TikTok shut down in the US, some users took to X, which was then called Twitter.

“I never thought they would cut TikTok. Now I’m sad and I miss the friends I made there. Hope it all comes back in just a few days,” wrote @RavenclawJedi.

‘HAIR ON FIRE’ MOMENT

NordVPN, a popular virtual private network, or VPN, that allows users to access the internet from servers around the world, said it was “experiencing temporary technical difficulties.”

Web searches for “VPN” increased in the minutes after US users lost access to TikTok, according to Google Trends.

Instagram users are worried about whether they will still receive merchandise they bought on the TikTok Shop, the video platform’s e-commerce arm.

Marketing companies that rely on TikTok are rushing to prepare contingency plans in what one executive described as a “hair on fire” after months of conventional wisdom saying a solution happens to keep the app running.

There are signs that TikTok could make a comeback under Trump, who has said he wants to pursue a “political resolution” to the issue and last month urged the Supreme Court to halt enforcement of the ban.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew plans to attend the US presidential inauguration and attend a rally with Trump on Sunday, a source told Reuters.

Suitors including former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt have expressed interest in the fast-growing business that analysts estimate could be worth as much as $50 billion. Media reports say Beijing is also holding talks about selling TikTok’s US operations to billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk, though the company has denied that.

US search engine startup Perplexity AI submitted a bid on Saturday to ByteDance for Perplexity to merge with TikTok US, a source familiar with the company’s plans told Reuters. Perplexity will merge with TikTok US and create a new entity by integrating the combined company with other partners, the person added.

Privately held ByteDance is about 60% owned by institutional investors such as BlackRock (NYSE: ) and General Atlantic, while its founders and employees own 20% each. It has more than 7,000 employees in the US