TikTok claims that it is bringing back service to American users in accordance with the executive order that Trump promised.
Just hours after going dark due to a federal ban that President-elect Donald Trump said he would attempt to halt by executive order on his first day in office, TikTok announced on Sunday that it was bringing service back to users in the United States.
In order to give TikTok’s parent company, which is based in China, more time to find an authorized buyer before the ban goes into full force, Trump stated that he intended to issue the order. As millions of TikTok users in the United States woke up to find they could no longer access the TikTok app or platform, he made the announcement on his Truth Social account.
In accordance with the law, Google and Apple had to take the app down from their digital stores if TikTok parent company ByteDance didn’t sell its U.S. business by Sunday. Steep fines are permitted by the law, which was passed in April with broad bipartisan support.
Trump’s post gave “the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans,” according to a post on X by the company that operates the app in the United States.
Soon after TikTok’s announcement, some users reported that the app was functioning once more and that, for at least some users, the TikTok website was operational. TikTok was still not available for download even as it flickered back on.
The law that took effect Sunday required ByteDance to cut ties with the platform’s U.S. operations due to national security concerns posed by the app’s Chinese roots. However, the statute gave the sitting president authority to grant a 90-day extension if a viable sale was underway.
Although investors made a few offers, ByteDance previously said it would not sell. Trump said his order would “extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect” and “confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order.”
“Americans deserve to see our exciting Inauguration on Monday, as well as other events and conversations,” Trump wrote.
It was not immediately clear how Trump’s promised action would fare from a legal standpoint since the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld the ban on Friday and the statute came into force the day before Trump’s return to the White House.
Some lawmakers who voted for the sale-of-ban law, including some of Trump’s fellow Republicans, remain in favor of it. Sen Tom Cotton of Arkansas warned companies Sunday not to provide TikTok with the technical support it needs to function as it did before.
“Any company that hosts, distributes, services, or otherwise facilitates communist-controlled TikTok could face hundreds of billions of dollars of ruinous liability under the law, not just from (the Justice Department), but also under securities law, shareholder lawsuits, and state AGs,” Cotton wrote on X. “Think about it.”