For the first time in Internet history, the United States government has officially banned a major global social media platform, joining the ranks of authoritarian regimes like Russia and China. TikTok officially shut down on Saturday. Users who try to access the app are now greeted with a message stating “TikTok is not available right 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,” the message said. “Please stay tuned!”
This legislation is the final result of Congress passed last year This requires TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to either sell the app's US operations or face a nationwide ban. But unlike countries that regularly engage in Internet censorship, the US does not have a centralized infrastructure to prevent Americans from accessing specific apps or websites.
Instead, the law puts pressure on Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores, or risk collecting millions of dollars in fines. Both companies appear to have removed TikTok and other apps owned by its parent company ByteDance as of Saturday. Google and Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The law also prohibits companies from providing data hosting services to TikTok. Oracle, which counts TikTok as one of its biggest cloud computing customers, reportedly started telling the staff According to the information, the server hosting US TikTok data will be shut down on Saturday. Oracle did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In May, TikTok and a group of American creators appealed to stop the law from taking effect, saying it violates the First Amendment. supreme court rejected Those arguments concluded in a unanimous decision on January 17 that the provision was motivated by “well-supported national security concerns.”
“This is a blatant violation of the First Amendment,” says Evelyn Douk, a Stanford Law School professor who specializes in online speech issues. “Unfortunately for me, all nine justices of the Supreme Court dissent, and almost everyone who matters is listening to their opinion rather than mine. However, it is hard to take the national security justification seriously when in recent days past and future presidents, as well as members of Congress, seem to be pushing back on whether an immediate shutdown is necessary.
Days before the deadline, President Biden indicated he would leave enforcement of the law to the incoming Trump administration. The move leaves the app's fate hanging in the balance and TikTok on Saturday urged the Biden administration to provide definitive assurances that it will not enforce the law. In response, Biden's team suggested TikTok raise its concerns with Trump.
On Blind, an anonymous messaging app popular among tech workers, some TikTok employees were worried about whether they would have jobs next month, while others continued with business as usual. “Anyone else's manager is still scheduling meetings for the next week about new, upcoming projects without acknowledging the ban?” One user wrote. Another user responded, “I have 2025 strategy meetings next week.” “I'm just doing what I'm told. It's kind of comfortable.”