Well, that didn’t last long. Less than a day after TikTok became temporarily unavailable in the U.S., the app is now functional again. In an in-app notice, TikTok says the app has been restored “as a result of President Trump’s efforts.”
Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the social media platform would be banned. That law went into effect today. TikTok is still owned by ByteDance, so Apple removed the app from the App Store in the U.S., pursuant to the law.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump today said that he “will issue an executive order on Monday” that allows for more time before the U.S. law banning TikTok is enforced. Trump said the order will “also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order.”
Trump will be sworn in as the 47th U.S. President on Monday, and Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly plans to attend the inauguration.
Based on Trump’s promise, Apple may or may not be safe to restore availability of the TikTok app on the App Store in the U.S., after pulling it on late Saturday. Apple has yet to re-list the app, and it may be waiting to see how the situation unfolds. Apple potentially faced billions of dollars in fines had it kept TikTok available in the App Store in the U.S., so it is obviously navigating this situation extremely carefully due to the risks.
In a support document published today, Apple said it is “obligated to follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates.”
“Pursuant to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, apps developed by ByteDance Ltd. and its subsidiaries — including TikTok, CapCut, Lemon8, and others — will no longer be available for download or updates on the App Store for users in the United States starting January 19, 2025,” wrote Apple.
The outgoing White House administration declined to intervene.
TikTok remains available in the App Store in other countries.
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