TikTok restored its service for some US users just hours after the app went dark due to a federal law requiring app stores to remove it if ByteDance, the company’s China-based parent, didn’t sell its US operations to an approved buyer by Sunday.
In a statement announcing the restoration of service, TikTok thanked President-elect Donald Trump for providing “necessary clarity and assurance” that service providers won’t face penalties. The decision comes after Trump announced plans to issue an executive order giving ByteDance more time to find an approved buyer before TikTok’s US ban takes effect.
Under the law, mobile app stores were required to remove TikTok from their digital stores if it didn’t comply with a sale deadline. Google and Apple complied by removing the app from their stores. However, some users still had access through alternative means.
Trump’s Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin previously said he was assembling an investor group to buy TikTok, while Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary recently offered ByteDance $20 billion in cash. Lawmakers have long raised concerns about the app due to its Chinese ownership and data collection practices.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew will attend Trump’s inauguration with a prime seating location. The app’s users are now seeing a message asking them to close the app or download their data, which may take days to process.
In China, Hu Xijin, a former editor-in-chief for the Chinese Communist Party-run newspaper Global Times, criticized the US for suppressing TikTok and called it a “brutal suppression of an internet application.” The law imposing penalties on companies that offer TikTok could incur fines of up to $5,000 per user.
Source: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2025/01/19/donald-trump-says-he-will-issue-an-executive-order-monday-to-get-tiktok-back-up