by David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – TikTok announced on Sunday it was restoring service after President-elect Donald Trump said he would restore access to the app in the U.S. when he returns to power on Monday.
“As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok has returned to the United States,” the platform said in a message to users.
TikTok also issued an earlier statement after U.S. users reported they were able to access the Chinese service’s website, while the much more widely used TikTok app began returning to the internet for some users with just a few basic services.
“In consultation with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service,” TikTok said in an earlier statement, which also thanked Trump for “providing our service providers with the necessary clarity and assurance that they will not face any penalties (for) TikTok for over 170 million Americans and enabling over 7 million small businesses to thrive.
TikTok audience thanks Trump, a day before he takes office, comes at a tense moment in U.S.-China relations. Trump said he intended to impose tariffs on China, but also made clear he hoped for more direct contact with the Chinese leader.
TikTok stopped working for U.S. users late on Saturday, before a law shutting it down on national security grounds took effect on Sunday. US officials have warned that ByteDance’s Chinese parent company is at risk of misusing Americans’ data.
Trump said he would “extend the period before the legal prohibitions go into effect so we can reach an agreement to protect our national security.”
“I would like the US to have 50% of the joint venture,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Trump said the executive order would specify that no company would bear any liability that helped prevent TikTok from expiring before his order.
Trump previously said he would likely give TikTok a 90-day exemption from the ban once he took office, which TikTok cited in a notice sent to users on the app.
“There is a law in the US banning TikTok. Unfortunately, this means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has stated that he will work with us on a solution to restore TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned,” TikTok users were notified as it disappeared from the Apple (NASDAQ:) and Google (NASDAQ:) app stores late Saturday evening.
Trump saving TikTok marks a shift from his first-term position. In 2020, it moved to ban the short-video app over concerns that the company was sharing Americans’ personal information with the Chinese government. Trump recently said he has a “warm place in my heart for TikTok,” crediting the app with helping him turn out young voters in the 2024 election. In August 2020, Trump signed an executive order giving ByteDance 90 days to sell TikTok, but then blessed an agreement structured as a partnership rather than a divestiture that would include stakes in the new platform from both Oracle (NYSE:) and Walmart (NYSE:) company . Not everyone in Trump’s Republican Party agreed with efforts to circumvent the law and “Save TikTok.” Republican senators Tom and Pete Ricketts said in a joint statement: “Now that the bill has passed into law, there is no legal basis for any “extension” of its effective date. In order for TikTok to come back online in the future, ByteDance must agree to a sale that meets the requirements of qualified divestiture law, severing all ties between TikTok and communist China.” The United States has never banned any major social media platform. The bill passed by a majority vote of Congress gives the incoming Trump administration broad powers to ban other Chinese-owned apps or seek their sale. Other ByteDance-owned apps, including video editing app CapCut and lifestyle social media app Lemon8, were also disabled and unavailable in U.S. app stores as of overdue Saturday. Apple and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment. MOVING TO ALTERNATIVES. Under a law passed last year and upheld by a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, the platform had until Sunday to cut ties with its Chinese parent company or shut down its U.S. operations to allay concerns that it poses a national security threat. The Chinese embassy in Washington on Friday accused the United States of using unfair state power to suppress TikTok. “China will take all necessary measures to resolutely protect its legitimate rights and interests,” the spokesman said. Uncertainty about the future of the application has prompted users – mainly young people – to look for alternative solutions, including China’s RedNote. Rivals Meta (NASDAQ:) and Snap have seen their stock prices surge this month ahead of the ban as investors bet on an influx of users and advertising dollars. According to Google Trends, internet searches for “VPN” spiked in the minutes after US users lost access to TikTok. Instagram users were worried about whether they would still receive goods purchased from TikTok Shop, the e-commerce part of the video platform. Marketing companies dependent on TikTok rushed to prepare contingency plans in what one executive described as a “hair burn” moment, after months of conventional predictions that there would be a solution to keep the app running. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew plans to attend the US presidential inauguration and attend a rally with Trump on Sunday, a source told Reuters. Suitors, including former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, have expressed interest in the rapidly growing business, which analysts estimate could be worth as much as $50 billion. Media reports say Beijing has also been in talks to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations to billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk, though the company denies this. US search engine startup Perplexity AI made an offer to ByteDance on Saturday to merge Perplexity with TikTok US, a source familiar with the company’s plans told Reuters. She added that Perplexity will merge with TikTok US and create a new entity, combining the combined company with other partners. Privately held ByteDance is about 60% owned by institutional investors such as BlackRock (NYSE:) and General Atlantic, while its founders and employees own 20% each. It employs over 7,000 people in the USA
