TikTok informed US users on Saturday (January 18) that the app would be “temporarily unavailable” on Sunday as a new law banning the app takes effect. When users tried to log in, they were greeted with a message stating that the law would “force us to make our services temporarily unavailable” and assured that efforts were underway to restore the app in the US as quickly as possible. On Saturday, users could still bypass the message and continue using the app.
Trump ‘most likely’ to grant TikTok 90-day extension
Just days before taking office, US President Donald Trump stated that he is “most likely” to grant a 90-day extension to the popular video-sharing app TikTok to avoid a ban in the United States. In an interview with NBC News on Saturday, Trump mentioned that he is considering extending the Sunday deadline set for ByteDance to sell TikTok to a non-Chinese buyer or face a ban under US law.
“I think that would be, certainly, an option that we look at. The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done because it’s appropriate. You know, it’s appropriate. We have to look at it carefully. It’s a very big situation,” Trump said in a phone interview. “If I decide to do that, I’ll probably announce it on Monday,” he furthered.
Trump’s comments followed the outgoing administration of US President Joe Biden, which stated that the responsibility for enforcing the law would be handed over to the incoming Trump administration. Amid the ongoing political turmoil, TikTok announced that it would “go dark” on Sunday, urging for more “clarity and assurance” to ensure that US tech hosts of the service would not face legal risks.