TikTok Shuts Down in the US Hours ahead of a Ban

Farewell TikTok US

January 18, 2025

TikTok stopped working in the US late on Saturday. Photograph: Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock

TikTok stopped working in the United States on Saturday night, two hours before a federal ban that was to take effect. The Chinese-owned social media app has also been removed from Google and Apple’s app stores.

This shutdown follows a law passed last year and upheld on Friday by the Supreme Court, in which the app used by 170 million Americans had until Sunday to either sell the app or be banned in the U.S. due to concerns over potential Chinese surveillance, posing a national security threat.

However, Biden’s White House reiterated on Saturday that it was up to the Trump administration to take action.

“We see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take actions in the next few days before the Trump administration takes office on Monday,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

US and some Canadian users of one of the world’s most popular social media platforms reported being met with a message reading: “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now.” before the message was later modified to suggest that the app could be back soon once President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

“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 to users who opened the app beginning late Saturday night. “Please stay tuned!”

While the short-form video app, is now relying on the incoming administration to save the platform, it should be noted that it was Trump who initially called for the ban.

Meanwhile, other apps owned by TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, including CapCut and Lemon8, also went offline and are unavailable in U.S. app stores.