WASHINGTON: TikTok restored service in the United States on Sunday (Jan 19) after briefly going dark, as a law banning the wildly popular app on national security grounds came into effect.
TikTok credited President-elect Donald Trump, who retakes power on Monday, for making the reversal possible – though the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden had earlier said that it would not enforce any ban.
The video-sharing app had shut down in the US late on Saturday as a deadline for its Chinese owners ByteDance to sell its US subsidiary to non-Chinese buyers loomed.
Earlier on Sunday, as millions of dismayed users found themselves barred from the app, Trump promised to issue an executive order delaying the ban to allow time to “make a deal”.
He also called in a post on his Truth Social platform for the US to take part-ownership in TikTok.
The president-elect said he “would like the US to have a 50 per cent ownership position in a joint venture”, arguing that the app’s value could surge to “hundreds of billions of dollars – maybe trillions”.
“By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands,” wrote Trump, who had previously backed a TikTok ban and during his first term in office made moves towards one.
In a statement posted on X following Trump’s comments, TikTok said it “is in the process of restoring service”.
“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.”
TikTok, which was back online in the US by Sunday afternoon, did not address Trump’s call for part American ownership of the app.
Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives told AFP the episode “marked a big win for TikTok and a political win for Trump”.
“The TikTok app was going to stay dark and Trump came to the rescue in this political game of high stakes poker between the US and China,” he said.
