UPDATE (1/19/25) – Following a short time being shut down, TikTok is now back online in the U.S.
“In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service,” TikTok wrote in a statement on X/Twitter. “We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive.
“It’s a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.”
The original story follows.
TikTok has officially been banned in the U.S. and the social media app can no longer be accessed by those within its borders.
Users who try to hop on TikTok will no longer see videos from creators across the world, but instead will be greeted with a message that begins, “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now.”
“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now,” the message continues. “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! In the meantime, you can still download your data.”
TikTok made one final appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but last week it unanimously struck it down despite its understanding that many other apps collect a ton of data to analyze. In their eyes, TikTok had the potential for harm.
“There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community,” The U.S. Supreme Court said. “But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary. For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners’ First Amendment rights.”
As TikTok mentioned, the company is hoping that Donald Trump will bring it back online after he officially becomes the next U.S. President on January 20, but there has been no definite word as of yet. He did, however, say to NBC News in an interview on January 18 that he will “most likely” delay the ban for 90 days.
This delay would give a buyer from the United States or one of its allies time to purchase the app, which hasn’t happened yet and is what led to the ban. What did occur, however, is that other apps with links to TikTok parent company ByteDance have gone dark, including CapCut, Lemon8, and even Marvel Snap.
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Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on TikTok.
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