WASHINGTON — TikTok was not available for many of its 170 million users in the U.S. hours before a ban on the popular social media platform was supposed to officially go into effect.
TikTok greeted some users opening the app Saturday night with the message, “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now.”
“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S.,” the message continued. “Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now. 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!”
The message then prompted users to close the app or learn more.
The app also appeared to be removed from app stores the U.S. Saturday night, making it unavailable to download.
CapCut, an editing app that is popular among TikTok users which is also owned by TikTok’s parent company Bytedance, displayed a similar message and also become unavailable to many U.S. users Saturday evening.
The shut down of TikTok follows several tense days of uncertainty for the app leading up to Sunday, when a ban on TikTok is supposed to go into effect in the United States.
In April, President Joe Biden signed a law that mandated that TikTok’s Chinese-owned parent company ByteDance sell TikTok to a non-Chinese owner, or TikTok would be banned. The Supreme Court upheld the law on Friday, paving the way for the app to shut down in the United States.
But the Biden administration released a statement on Friday indicating that it would leave the law’s enforcement up to the Trump administration. Since the law was made, it became deeply unpopular with users and many Americans, and many TikTok users began fleeing to Chinese social media apps.
The Biden Administration’s comments that they would not enforce the ban Sunday created uncertainty about whether the app would be made unavailable or remain online for Americans.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have decried TikTok as a threat to national security because it is owned by a Chinese company. TikTok critics argued that the Chinese government could use the app to access Americans’ data or influence the type of content Americans watched.
But the company has pushed back on lawmakers’ concerns, instead painting the looming ban as a free speech and censorship issue. TikTok CEO Shou Chew has said that the app is safe and secure.
The app’s future is far from certain. Earlier on Saturday, President-elect Donald Trump told NBC News’ Kristen Welker that he will “most likely” give the app a 90-day extension of the Sunday deadline for ByteDance to sell the app or have TikTok banned in the U.S.
“The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it’s appropriate,” Trump said.
Trump has alternated on his stance on TikTok. In 2020 he said he wanted to ban the app. Years later, Trump reversed his position before making his own TikTok account during the 2024 presidential campaign.
