More than 12 hours later TikTok has gone dark in the United States, the video-sharing app is coming back online.
“In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service,” the company said in a statement. “We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will not face sanctions that provide TikTok to more than 170 million Americans and allow more than 7 million small businesses that thrive.”
A law that would force TikTok’s parent company ByteDance to sell the app or see it banned in the United States is set to go into effect today. The law also makes it illegal for US companies to support the distribution, maintenance, or updating of the app.
As President-elect Donald Trump takes office, officials from President Joe Biden’s White House and the Department of Justice said that leave law enforcement to the Trump administrationbut TikTok says that “critical service providers” need a “definite statement,” otherwise the app will be dark. And indeed, the app stopped working last night and it disappeared from the Apple and Google Play app stores.
Earlier today, however, President-elect Donald Trump posted that he will issue an executive order to delay the ban, and he suggested that he would like to see TikTok restored soon because “Americans deserve to see our exciting Inauguration on Monday.” To that end, he said his order would “confirm that there is no accountability for any company that helped keep TikTok out of the dark before my order.”
That’s enough security for TikTok and its service providers. The TikTok app was working again for many TechCrunch writers at the time the company released its statement. However, as of 1:05pm Eastern, it still appears to be missing from the Apple app store and Google Play.
And not all lawmakers are on board. In response to TikTok’s announcement, Republican Posted by Senator Tom Cotton that “any company that hosts, distributes, services, or otherwise facilitates the communist-controlled TikTok could face hundreds of billions of dollars in damages.”
Trump’s post on Sunday morning also indicated that his “initial thoughts” on a deal to keep TikTok operating in the US would include “a joint deal between the current owners and/or new owners where the US gets a 50% ownership.”
In its statement, TikTok said it will “work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.”