Shortly before the ban came into effect, lifestyle app TikTok stopped working for users in the United States on late Saturday. The app owned by a Chinese parent company was also removed from Google and Apple's app stores.
The app was removed from Android and iOS app stores by 10.50pm Eastern Standard Time, reports said. Users who tried to access the application on Saturday evening were met with a pop-up message from the company that prevented them from scrolling the videos. Users who tried to access the app via the web also received a similar message.
"A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US. 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. Please stay tuned,” the message read. Besides TikTok, Other apps owned by its parent company ByteDance, including video editing app Capcut and lifestyle social app Lemon8, also disappeared from US app stores on Saturday. TikTok has 170 million users in the US.
The US Supreme Court on Friday upheld a federal law that enforces ByteDance to deprive its US operation by Sunday. The law Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act was enacted in April last year citing national security concerns. The law mandates ByteDance to either sell the company to a non-Chinese owner or shut down operations in the US.
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President-elect Donald Trump, who will assume office on Monday, said he is likely to issue orders providing a 90-day extension for the app. “The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it's appropriate. If I decide to do that, I'll probably announce it on Monday,” Trump told NBC News.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has said, “TikTok should remain available to Americans, but simply under American ownership or other ownership that addresses the national security concerns identified by Congress in developing this law.”
The Chinese Embassy condemned the US actions and accused the US of using unfair state power to suppress TikTok, Reuters reported. "China will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests," a spokesperson told the publication.