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TikTok Goes Dark For U.S. Users Hours Before Ban Takes Effect

WASHINGTON — TikTok officially went dark in the United States for over 100 million users just hours before a ban was set to take place.

Around 10:30 p.m. EST time, users who attempted to open the app were greeted with a splash page that read: “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now.”

The message continued: “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!”

A spokesperson for the Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday night when asked about the app shutting down.

The app also appeared to be removed from Apple and Google’s app stores in the U.S., making it unavailable to download.

Other Bytedance apps including CapCut and Lemon8 displayed similar messages and also became unavailable to many U.S. users Saturday night.

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The shut down of TikTok comes after 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.

The outgoing Biden administration said Friday that it was leaving enforcement of the TikTok ban in the hands of the Trump administration. Trump, who called for a TikTok ban during his first administration, has credited the app with helping him improve his standing among the younger voters in the 2024 election.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called TikTok’s plans to go dark “a stunt” in a statement Saturday morning.

“We have seen the most recent statement from TikTok. It is a stunt, and we see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take actions in the next few days before the Trump Administration takes office on Monday,” she said.

“We have laid out our position clearly and straightforwardly: actions to implement this law will fall to the next administration. So TikTok and other companies should take up any concerns with them,” she added.

On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the law, rejecting the app’s free speech arguments in an unsigned opinion.

President-elect Donald Trump said in an interview on Saturday that he is ‘likely’ to grant TikTok a 90-day extension to avoid a ban in the United States.

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“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.

Stephen Anderson
Written By

Stephen Anderson is FWRD AXIS' Co-founder and Chief Political Reporter based in the United States.

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