“Looking for TikTok? Downloads for this app are paused due to US legal requirements.”
TikTok officially shut down in the United States… and a few hours later, it began to reappear after President-elect Donald Trump pledged to delay for 90 days the enforcement of the national security law that had caused the shutdown in the first place to allow the company to find a U.S. backer, a move that would presumably defuse national security concerns.
In informing users of the shutdown, it also said it was working to restore service, yet no one had anticipated this would happen in mere hours.
“We regret that a U.S. law banning TikTok will take effect on January 19 and force us to make our services temporarily unavailable,” TikTok said.
Apple removed the company’s app from its App Store, and Google did the same with Play Store.
It remains unclear whether Trump’s promised extension would be legal given that the law, which was strongly supported in Congress by members of both parties, was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. Trump spoke of a joint venture under which a U.S. company would acquire 50% of the American arm of TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based Bytedance, but the managing director of a private equity firm focused on China who wished to remain anonymous told FBT and The Travelist that if TikTok was a national security threat under 100% Chinese ownership, co-control, i.e. a joint venture, would be no better. “If TikTok doesn’t end up under majority U.S. control, it won’t be operating in the United States.”
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
