Tik Tok goes dark in US, pinning hopes on Trump

Millions of TikTok users in the United States are no longer able to watch videos on the social media platform as a federal ban on the immensely popular app takes effect.

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The company’s app was removed Saturday night from prominent app stores, including the ones operated by Apple and Google, while its website told users that the shortform video platform was no longer available. The blackout began just hours before the law took effect.

Users opening the Tik Tok app on Saturday encountered a popup message preventing them from scrolling videos that read, “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now.”

“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US,” the message said. “Unfortunately that means you can’t use TikTok for now.”

“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 notice continued, in a reference to president-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to “save” the platform. The company told its users to stay tuned.

The only option the message gives to US users is to close the app or click another option leading them to the platform’s website. There, users are shown the same message and given the option to download their data, an action TikTok previously said may take days to process.

Before the announcement went out, TikTok said in another message to users that its service would be “temporarily unavailable” and the company was working to restore its US service “as soon as possible.” But how long the platform will remain dark is unclear.

Apple said in a statement on its website that TikTok and ByteDance apps were no longer available in the US, while visitors to the country could have limited access.

“If you already have these apps installed on your device, they will remain on your device. But they can’t be redownloaded if deleted or restored if you move to a new device. In-app purchases and new subscriptions are no longer possible,” the statement said, adding that the change could impact performance, security and compatibility with future versions of iOS and iPadOS.