
Trump promised to get TikTok back online, and it is now operational
- Technology
- January 20, 2025
Many users say that TikTok is back nearly as if it never left, 12 hours after shutting down in the US. They attribute this to President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to save the app.
When users returned, TikTok sent out a notification saying, “Thanks for your support and patience.” Thanks to President Trump’s efforts, TikTok has returned to the United States.
The abrupt decision to reintroduce the app follows TikTok’s unusability for Americans late on Saturday night. When users attempted to launch the app during that period, they were greeted with a notice stating that it was unavailable and advising them to “stay tuned.”
In the United States, a law prohibiting TikTok has been passed. TikTok’s notice partially stated, “Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now.” Together with Lemon8 and CapCut, which are also owned by ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, based in China, the app was not available on the Apple or Google Play stores.
Trump announced early Sunday that he will postpone the divest-or-ban law’s implementation by issuing an executive order after his inauguration on Monday. And in a few of hours, US users were able to use TikTok’s app and website again.
After weeks of uncertainty, TikTok’s restoration will be welcome news for the app’s 170 million American users, many of whom spend hours each day using it to find news, entertainment, and community—and, in some cases, to earn a living.
Additionally, it suggested that Trump would be ready to score a significant electoral win by taking credit for reviving the well-liked platform. In a statement released at noon on Sunday, TikTok stated that even before Trump’s anticipated executive order is issued, it was able to restore access for US users because of his pledge to maintain the service.
“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 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive,” the company said in a statement. “We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.”
Prior to taking a prominent seat at the new president’s inauguration on Monday, TikTok CEO Shou Chew is anticipated to attend Trump’s “Make America Great Again Victory Rally” in Washington, DC, on Sunday night.
Although TikTok was stopped down for a few hours, it will probably be more difficult to secure the app’s long-term future in the US.
The way to ensure TikTok’s survival
Trump stated in a Truth Social post on Sunday that he intends to “extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security” by issuing an executive order after his inauguration on Monday.
“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 said, urging TikTok’s partners to permit the service to be revived.
“Americans deserve to see our exciting Inauguration on Monday, as well as other events and conversations,” Trump said.
In order to allow himself time to negotiate a deal to sell the app to a non-Chinese owner, Trump had previously stated that he was thinking of extending the ban by 90 days. Trump stated in his tweet that he would look for a 50/50 joint venture between a new American owner and ByteDance, the parent firm of TikTok, which is based in China.
An announcement like that may give Trump a sort of instant political win with young Americans. Trump recently stated that he wants to keep TikTok alive, despite having backed a ban on the app during his first term as president. He posted the message, “SAVE TIKTOK!” on Truth Social on Sunday morning. In order for his future government to negotiate a compromise to keep TikTok accessible to Americans, he requested last month that the Supreme Court postpone the statute. On Friday, the Supreme Court affirmed the statute.
Beginning late Saturday night, TikTok made a plea to Trump by informing users that the service was not available in the US through a pop-up message on the app.
“We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office,” the company posted in its pop-up message. “Please stay tuned!”
“We are grateful and pleased to have the support of a president who truly understands our platform, one who has used TikTok to express his own thoughts and perspectives, connecting with the world and generating more than 60 billion views of his content in the process,” Chew added in a video in response to the company’s Supreme Court defeat on Friday.
During a press conference at Mar-a-Lago in December, Trump said TikTok had a role in his election triumph.
Trump stated to have won the youth vote by a wide percentage after declaring, “I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok.” “And some people claim that TikTok was involved in some way.”
Citing national security concerns, Congress passed the TikTok prohibition measure with broad bipartisan backing. The restriction has continuously been unpopular with younger generations, despite a Pew Research Center survey conducted in 2023 showing that almost half of Americans supported it.
In order to give ByteDance, the parent firm of TikTok, more time to locate an American owner, Trump is anticipated to postpone the implementation of the ban with his executive order. Trump’s Sunday speech might have been sufficient to persuade TikTok’s tech partners to keep supporting the app, including Apple and Google, who host the service on their app stores, and Oracle, which hosts TikTok’s content in the US. If the rule is implemented, those businesses risk fines of up to $5,000 for each user with access to TikTok.
Not a long-term fix
However, some members of Trump’s own party may challenge the executive order, stating that they are against the ban being extended.
“We commend Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft for following the law and halting operations with ByteDance and TikTok, and we encourage other companies to do the same,” Republican Senators Tom Cotton, of Arkansas, and Pete Ricketts, of Nebraska, wrote in a joint statement Sunday. “The law, after all, risks ruinous bankruptcy for any company who violates it. Now that the law has taken effect, there’s no legal basis for any kind of ‘extension’ of its effective date.”
“Severing all ties between TikTok and Communist China” is the only way to get the app back online, according to Cotton and Ricketts. Only then would Americans be shielded from the serious danger that a communist-run TikTok poses to their security and privacy.
A years-long attempt to prevent US access to TikTok due to national security concerns regarding its Chinese owner, ByteDance, came to fruition with the app’s brief outage. In April of last year, outgoing President Joe Biden signed a measure giving ByteDance 270 days to sell TikTok to a U.S. owner or one of its supporters, or risk being banned.
Therefore, Trump cannot simply use an executive order to overturn a law that was passed by Congress and signed by the president, even if he promises to do so.
That was the first reason TikTok went down. According to a source close to TikTok, “multiple critical service providers” told the company that they were worried the ban may be implemented beginning on Sunday, even though the Biden administration essentially stated that implementation would be postponed until the incoming Trump government.
For instance, Apple said in a statement on Sunday that TikTok was kicked out of its app store due to the prohibition. Customers who have previously downloaded the app will still be able to access it, but if it is deleted, it cannot be downloaded again.
According to the company’s statement, “Apple is required to abide by the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates.” “Apps created by ByteDance Ltd. and its subsidiaries, such as TikTok, CapCut, Lemon8, and others, will no longer be available for download or updates on the App Store for users in the United States starting January 19, 2025, in accordance with the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.”
The long-term solution
The only really long-term ways to keep TikTok online seem to be: 1) enact a new law that reverses the previous one, which is a difficult effort given that the previous statute had such widespread bipartisan support in Congress; or 2) compel a sale to a suitable bidder.
Two prospective purchasers have formally placed bids for the app, including the AI search engine PerplexityAI, a company headed by billionaire Frank McCourt, and Kevin O’Leary of “Shark Tank.” Other parties have apparently expressed interest in TikTok.
However, ByteDance has maintained for a long time that it has no plans to sell. TikTok’s secret power is its almost magical algorithm, which keeps users addicted to the program. It’s challenging to assign a value to such a desirable product, which is envy by all other social networking apps.
Although digital behemoths like Meta and YouTube have been trying for years to imitate TikTok’s well-liked algorithm without much success, McCourt’s buyer group has stated that it will purchase TikTok’s US assets without the algorithm and rebuild the app. O’Leary told CNN that earlier this month, he met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago to talk about the app’s future.
The rest of the world might have to download a separate app in order to view the material created by US users if TikTok is spun off into an American-only version. However, last week, the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg reported that China is considering selling – to Elon Musk.
Musk, a fervent Trump admirer who is set to assume a quasi-position in his administration, might have the funds to purchase the app. However, it’s unclear if he would want to, and he hasn’t made any direct public remarks regarding the acquisition reports.
Musk said he is against the TikTok ban “because it goes against freedom of speech” in a post on X on Sunday.
Nevertheless, it is unfair that TikTok is permitted to operate in America but X is prohibited from doing so in China. Musk stated, “Something has to change.”
Trump can say that substantial progress has been made on a deal if ByteDance decides to get involved. This would be a legal threshold that would allow Trump to lawfully lift the ban and start the sale process.
Trump stated that the US should own “a 50% ownership position in a joint venture” in his Truth Social post on Sunday.
He declared, “By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands, and let it say (sic) up.” Therefore, my first idea is a joint venture between the existing owners and/or new owners in which the United States receives 50% ownership in the joint venture that is established between the United States and whatever acquisition we decide upon.
However, that is simply a short-term solution because the transaction would eventually need to proceed. The future of TikTok will continue to be quite uncertain till then.
China’s foreign ministry told reporters Monday that it thought businesses should make their own decisions about their operations and negotiations when they were questioned about the app’s restoration and Trump’s desire for a deal. Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stated, “We hope the US can listen to reasonable voices and provide an open, fair, just, and non-discriminatory business environment for market players from all countries.”
A “surreal” closure
A lot of TikTok users had hoped the closure would be temporary.
For some users, however, the Saturday night shutdown was a tragic loss and a reminder of the app’s cultural impact. Early in 2020, while the Covid-19 pandemic was excluding people from other creative outlets and communities, a large number of users joined the app.
“I’m so sad for so many people. I was shocked. I think I was probably in denial a little bit that it would actually just go dark,” influencer Shannon Lange told CNN early Sunday, before access to the app was restored.
Before the suspension, TikTok influencer Alix Earle, who had around 8 million followers, shared a heartfelt video on the app, stating, “I feel like I’m going through heartbreak. This platform is more than an app or a job to me. I have so many memories on here. I have posted every day for the past 6 years of my life.”
The closure was described as “surreal” by Julie Turkel, a TikTok creator who said she was scrolling through the app when it crashed on Saturday night.
“It was just surreal, it did have a very eerie feeling,” Turkel told CNN. She added that although she had anticipated the shutdown after TikTok’s warnings last week, “seeing it actually go down is different.”
While TikTok remained down, Turkel told CNN early on Sunday that she was going on a digital “detox,” choosing not to use Instagram or other short-form video sites. The break was short-lived.
Upon the app’s relaunch on Sunday, Lange shared a video of himself dancing and grinning, with the caption, “I was sleeping for nine of the longest 13 hours of my life.”