Around two hours before the TikTok ban was set to take effect early Sunday morning, the popular social media app shut itself down.
But after President-elect Donald Trump promised an executive order to delay the ban from taking effect, TikTok said it was “in the process of restoring service.”
Trump responds
On Sunday morning, the president-elect said via Truth Social that he will issue an executive order to delay the ban.
“I’m asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark! I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security. The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order.
“Americans deserve to see our exciting Inauguration on Monday, as well as other events and conversations.
“I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say up. Without U.S. approval, there is no Tik Tok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars - maybe trillions.
“Therefore, my initial thought is a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the U.S. gets a 50% ownership in a joint venture set up between the U.S. and whichever purchase we so choose.”
TikTok shuts itself down
Just before the law was set to go into effect, TikTok users were greeted with a message about services being temporarily unavailable, and they couldn’t access content.
“We regret that a U.S. law banning TikTok will take effect on January 19 and force us to make our services temporarily unavailable.
“We’re working to restore our service in the U.S. as soon as possible, and we appreciate your support. Please stay tuned,” the message on TikTok said.
The pop-up was then updated to say that the app may be reinstated as soon as Monday.
“We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office.”
TikTok ban
TikTok was facing a ban put in place by Congress and the Biden administration.
A law passed in April instructed U.S. app stories to stop offering TikTok downloads on Sunday, Jan. 19, unless the app’s parent company, ByteDance, had divested by then.
The TikTok ban sought to address national security concerns. Lawmakers feared that TikTok’s Chinese owners were using data collected on the app to sow unrest in the United States.
TikTok and ByteDance, as well as some TikTok content creators, sued to stop the ban from taking effect, citing free speech concerns, but they lost in front of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court’s ruling, which was released Friday morning, paved the way for the TikTok ban to take effect Sunday, which is President Joe Biden’s final full day in the White House.
The Biden administration had signaled that it would not enforce the TikTok ban and would, instead, leave it up to Trump to determine the best path forward.
But now TikTok has taken matters in its own hands and voluntarily shut down its services, perhaps in anticipation of a long-awaited sale or help from Trump.
Trump had said Saturday that he may pause the ban for 90 days once he’s back in the White House.
TikTok is currently not available on prominent app stores in the U.S., including Apple’s app store.