TikTok Goes Dark in the U.S., Warns Users of Shutdown with ‘Temporarily Unavailable’ Message Before Ban Takes Effect.
TikTok, a popular short video app used by about 170 million people in the US, is now banned in America. From Saturday night on, opening the app, users started seeing a message saying that “TikTok is not available right now. A ban on TikTok had been implemented in America. Unfortunately, you cannot use TikTok right now.“.
This message confirms its ban. National security concerns are behind this decision. ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is a Chinese company. On Friday, the US Supreme Court upheld the ban on TikTok, saying that this law was necessary for national security. TikTok and its parent apps like CapCut and Lemon8 are no longer available in America. They have been removed from the app store, so even new users cannot download them.
Another message was given that said, “We hope that President Donald Trump will work with us to find a solution in this matter. Please stay tuned for updates.” This message shows that the company hopes that the new Trump government can find some solution to get their service restarted.
Actually, this ban is the result of a law passed by Congress last year. In it, ByteDance was ordered to sell TikTok or shut it down in America. The then President Joe Biden signed this law, although TikTok challenged this law. But the Supreme Court’s decision came against the company.
The company had warned on Friday itself that if the US administration did not take any clear steps to stop the ban, then the app would have to be made dark, i.e., temporarily closed. But the administration refused to give any assurance, saying that the responsibility of implementing the law would be on the Trump administration, which will take office on Monday.
Trump told NBC News on Saturday in this matter that he is considering giving a one-day extension to save TikTok from the ban. He said this is appropriate and a big matter. I will make a decision on this on Monday.
Meanwhile, TikTok has temporarily stopped its services. From 9:00 pm on Saturday night, users started getting TikTok and CapCut warning messages. By 10:00 pm, American users were completely blocked in both apps. The message said we are sorry that TikTok has become temporarily unavailable due to US law. We are working to bring it back as soon as possible.
The company said in an email to its employees that the situation is likely to improve after Trump’s arrival. However, the discussion about TikTok in the US is not over yet. There is a long list of potential buyers, including billionaire Frank McCourt and others.
Some reports also said that the Chinese government may consider selling it to Elon Musk. But TikTok has termed it completely fake. The temporary closure of TikTok will affect its crores of users and creators. Who use this platform to share their content and earn their income. This situation will continue until TikTok resumes operations in the US. At present, TikTok has gone “dark” in the US.