TikTok has stopped working in the US

TikTok stopped working in the US on the evening of January 18, less than two hours before January 19, the day the law banning the app went into effect in the country.

This is reported by CNN.

The application has disappeared from Appleʼs App Store, and when downloaded from Google Play, it gives an error.

"Unfortunately, TikTok is currently unavailable. A law has been passed in the US banning TikTok. Unfortunately, this means you cannot use TikTok for now," this is the notification Americans see.

At the same time, the app says that the US President-elect Donald Trump will work to restore TikTok in the country.

TikTok ban in the US

The US House of Representatives passed a bill in March 2024 that could ban the social network TikTok in the US. The bill was supported by the US Senate in April, and President Joe Biden signed the bill into law that same month.

The law took effect on January 19. At the same time, newly elected US President Donald Trump is likely to postpone the law for 90 days after he takes office on January 20. Under US law, he has the right to do so only once.

Trump has not made a final decision, but says he is considering the option because "itʼs appropriate".

The US lawmakers say TikTok poses a national security threat because the Chinese government could force ByteDance to hand over US usersʼ data. The bill would require US-based TikTok to divest itself of its Chinese owner, ByteDance, or face a ban.

Trump tried to ban TikTok during his first term as president, but reversed his stance during this yearʼs presidential campaign and promised to "save" the app.

He explained this by wanting to maintain “competition” with Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, which he criticized for allegedly censoring right-wing voices. The latter said on January 7 that Meta would work with Trump “to confront governments around the world that are persecuting American companies and increasing censorship.”

According to Bloomberg, China is considering selling its American unit TikTok to Elon Musk. However, ByteDance representatives called the Bloomberg report “pure fiction”.

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