TikTok back in the US 12 hours after ‘shutting services’

ByteDance-owned TikTok started restoring its services in the US on Sunday evening following the intervention of President-elect Donald Trump. The app was banned across platforms in the US on January 18, that is, Saturday, a day ahead of the law banning the app in the country was scheduled to come into effect.

TikTok, in a statement on X (formerly Twitter) on January 19 said that it was restoring its services to over 170 million Americans after getting clarity and assurance from Trump. “We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States,” the company added in its post.

STATEMENT FROM TIKTOK:
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…
— TikTok Policy (@TikTokPolicy) January 19, 2025

TikTok shutdown in the US

For the unversed, the law (more on that below) banning TikTok in the US was scheduled to come into effect on January 19.
Ahead of the scheduled ban, both Google and Apple removed the app from the Play Store and App Store respectively. It was also removed from the web.
The move came after the US Supreme Court on January 17 ruled that the US could legally shut down TikTok in the country.
Shortly after the decision of the US Supreme Court, the White House issued a statement wherein it said that it would leave the decision of banning the app on the next administration that would take oath on January 20.
Following the US SC decision and White House’s statement, ByteDance started shutting down TikTok in the country making it unavailable on the mobile app stores and on the web.

Donald Trump on TikTok ban

However, things took a different turn after President elect Trump shared a post on his Truth Social platform asking the company not to go dark adding that he would issue an executive order on January 20 that would extend the time duration before the law banning the app comes into effect.

“I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibition takes effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security,” Trump wrote in his post.

“The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order,” he added in his post.

Why has the US been planning to ban TikTok?

To recall, former US President Joe Biden signed a law last year that required ByteDance to sell TikTok to a US-based company or face a shutdown amid fears of the app being a threat to the country’s national security.
While the company has made several appeals in the US Supreme Court against the law, its appeals have been rejected repeatedly with the last one being rejected on January 17. However, that changed with Trump’s post on Truth Social.
It is worth noting that while Trump has temporarily stopped TikTok from coming into effect, he has also clarified that he wants the app to be available in the country as a joint venture.
“I would like the United States to have a 50 percent ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say up,” he added.