TikTok is no longer available to consumers in the United States due to a contentious rule that requires the popular site to go offline until it separates from its Chinese owner, ByteDance.
Attempts to open TikTok banned about 10:35 PM ET resulted in a notice stating that the app is presently unavailable. “In the United States, TikTok has been banned by law Regrettably, this implies that TikTok is not accessible for you at the moment.
The message further stated that President-elect Donald Trump “promised to work with us on a solution to bring TikTok back after taking office.” “Please stay tuned!”
During the same moment, TikTok disappeared from the Apple and Google Play app stores. The statute, which was recently reaffirmed by the Supreme Court, requires Apple and Google to remove the service from their app stores. It also forced web hosting companies, including TikTok’s cloud provider Oracle, to stop serving the app or face billion-dollar penalties.
It is unknown how long the service will be unavailable, but free speech defenders have criticised the move, claiming that it mimics the sort of government censorship that the United States routinely condemns on a worldwide scale.
PEN America, a free-speech organisation, criticised the Supreme Court ruling. The advocacy organisation issued a statement on Friday, stating that restricting access to foreign media is typical of authoritarian administrations. They caution against using national security as an excuse to muzzle expression.
Discussions concerning the potential closure of TikTok in the United States have been continuing for almost four years, with several attempts blocked by judges or abandoned due to political issues.
However, in April 2024, Congress enacted the prohibition with overwhelming bipartisan support. Lawmakers expressed fear that ByteDance, TikTok’s parent firm, may be swayed by the Chinese government, possibly exposing American data and material to the whims of a hostile state.
TikTok argued before the Supreme Court earlier this month that the regulation violated free expression in unique ways. Nonetheless, in an unsigned unanimous opinion, the Supreme Court determined that divestiture was “necessary” to meet lawmakers’ worries about China. The Court said that Congress was within its jurisdiction by deciding to restrict the enormously popular video app.
TikTok’s future is still questionable.
Donald Trump, the president-elect, said in a statement after the Supreme Court’s decision that while the judgment should be upheld, his incoming government will want further time to consider it. Trump has pledged to maintain TikTok in the United States, although it is unclear how he intends to carry out this commitment.
Project Texas, a national security pact, may be revived as one alternative. In an effort to counteract any Chinese influence, TikTok says it has invested more than $2 billion in this scheme, which positions Austin-based Oracle as a sort of administrator of the data shared between ByteDance and TikTok. Third-party audits of TikTok’s content recommendation system are also permitted under the proposal. The strategy includes a “kill switch,” which would allow federal authorities to take down TikTok if it is found that the app is in violation of the agreement.
According to court documents in TikTok’s case against the Biden administration, the company presented this idea to the government, but at the last minute, abruptly withdrew from the agreement.
According to some observers, Trump might bring these talks back to life and decide whether or not it qualifies as “qualified divestment”—an agreement in which TikTok is sufficiently separated from ByteDance. The President and his administration would have complete control over this choice.
This essentially gives Trump control over TikTok’s future in the US. He recently hinted that he would give the app a 90-day respite if he takes office, despite his prior promise during his first term to shut it down.
