Effectively, it occurred – TikTok goes offline within the US hours earlier than ban

Pour one out for TikTok — at least for now.

TikTok’s cellular app has stopped working and has been faraway from Apple’s App Retailer and Google Play as of Saturday, January 18th, just some hours ahead of its January 19th ban.

Customers at the moment are greeted with a message that claims, “Sorry, TikTok is not obtainable proper now. A regulation banning TikTok has been enacted within the U.S. Sadly, meaning you possibly can’t use TikTok for now. We’re lucky that President Trump has indicated that he’ll work with us on an answer to reinstate TikTok as soon as he takes workplace. “

The app permits customers to shut it or “study extra,” which directs to TikTok’s website. TikTok has additionally been faraway from Apple’s App Retailer and Google’s Play Retailer within the US. Any app market that also lists TikTok is topic to a $5,000 nice for each consumer that downloads the app. Different ByteDance-owned apps, together with CapCut, are presently displaying related messages.

It is unclear how lengthy TikTok will likely be unavailable

It is as much as the Trump Administration now

Following the passing of the “Defending People from Overseas Adversary Managed Apps Act” by President Biden, TikTok had six months to divest itself from Chinese language-owned mum or dad firm ByteDance. The app fought the regulation primarily based on the First Modification, bringing it to the Supreme Courtroom. Nonetheless, the US’ highest court docket just lately upheld the ban, making it clear the video-sharing social community would doubtless be shut down within the nation. For months, rumors swirled a few doable sale to a US-based firm, however a deal did not materialize.

Earlier this week, White Home officers acknowledged that TikTok’s ban wouldn’t be enforced and that the duty could be left as much as President-elect Donald Trump’s administration. Nonetheless, TikTok launched an announcement indicating that the White Home’s place “failed to offer the required readability and assurance to the service suppliers which are integral to sustaining TikTok’s availability to over 170 million People.”

In a current interview with NBC News, Trump — who initially supported TikTok’s ban — acknowledged that he would “almost certainly” grant a 90-day extension to ByteDance. Trump is about to take workplace on January twentieth, so there is a chance TikTok’s US ban may very well be transient.

Nonetheless, it is nonetheless unclear if ByteDance is keen to divest from TikTok and promote its US-based operations. In keeping with CNN, Canadian Kevin O’Leary (finest identified for being on Shark Tank) proposed shopping for the service alongside a number of different traders. Perplexity AI has reportedly additionally supplied to purchase TikTok’s stateside operations, in line with CNBC. With TikTok’s ban looming, earlier this week, US customers flooded Chinese language app RedNote, an identical short-form video social community.

Since I stay in Canada, I can nonetheless entry TikTok, although I count on my feed will rapidly grow to be far much less entertaining. My whole For You web page presently is full of glib jokes in regards to the social media platform’s impending demise.