By HALELUYA HADERO
NEW YORK (AP) — Millions of TikTok users within the United States can not watch videos the social media platform as a nationwide ban on the hugely popular app comes into effect.
The company's app was faraway from popular app stores, including those of Apple and Google, on Saturday evening, while the web site told users that the short-video platform was not available. The blackout began just hours before the law got here into effect.
Users who opened the TikTok app on Saturday encountered a pop-up message that prevented them from scrolling videos that said “Sorry, TikTok is currently unavailable.”
“A law has been passed in the US to ban TikTok,” the message said. “Unfortunately, this means you won’t be able to use TikTok for the time being.”
“We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reintroduce TikTok after he takes office,” the statement continued, referring to President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to relaunch the platform to “save”. The company urged its users to remain updated.
The only option the message offers US users is to shut the app or click an alternative choice that takes them to the platform's website. There, users will see the identical message and have the choice to download their data. According to TikTok, this motion can take days to process.
Before the announcement got here out, TikTok said in one other message to users that its service could be “temporarily unavailable” and that the corporate was working to revive its US service “as soon as possible.” But how long the platform will remain dark is unclear.
Apple said in an announcement on its website that the TikTok and ByteDance apps are not any longer available within the United States, while visitors to the country can have limited access. “Apple is committed to following the laws in the jurisdictions in which it operates,” the corporate said.
“If you already have these apps installed on your device, they will remain on your device. However, they cannot be downloaded again if deleted or restored when moving to a new device. In-app purchases and new subscriptions are no longer possible,” the statement said, adding that the change could impact performance, security and compatibility with future versions of iOS and iPadOS.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew posted a video thanking Trump for his commitment to working with the corporate to maintain the app available within the US and for his “strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship.” .
“We are grateful and excited to have the support of a president who truly understands our platform. One who has used conversations to express his own thoughts and perspectives, connect with the world, and in the process generate more than 60 billion views of his content,” said Chew.
In an interview with NBC News on Saturday, President-elect Donald Trump said he was considering giving TikTok a 90-day extension to permit the corporate to proceed operating. Should such an extension occur, Trump – who once supported a TikTok ban – said it might “probably” be announced on Monday, the day he will likely be sworn in as president. TikTok CEO Shou Chew is predicted to be in attendance Trumps Inauguration with first-class seating.
In Washington, lawmakers and administration officials have long raised concerns in regards to the app, which they view as a national security threat due to its Chinese ownership. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Beijing-based technology company that operates popular video editing apps CapCut and Lemon8, each of which were also unavailable Saturday evening.
Federal law required ByteDance to chop ties with TikTok by Sunday or face a nationwide ban. The bill was passed by Congress in April after being signed into law High priority $95 billion package which provided foreign aid to Ukraine and Israel. President Joe Biden I quickly signed itafter which TikTok and ByteDance quickly filed suit on First Amendment grounds.
While defending the law in court, the Biden administration argued it was concerned that TikTok could collect vast amounts of U.S. user data that would find yourself within the hands of the Chinese government through coercion.
Officials have also warned that the algorithm that drives what users see on the app is vulnerable to manipulation by Chinese authorities, who can use it to change content on the platform in ways which can be difficult to detect. However, thus far the US has not provided any public evidence that TikTok is sharing user data with Chinese authorities or tinkering with its algorithm to advance Chinese interests.
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Friday that the national security risk posed by TikTok's ties to China outweighs concerns about restricting speech on the app or its 170 million users within the United States.
After TikTok's service stopped working, some in China criticized the US, accusing it of suppressing the favored app. In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo, Hu Xijin, former editor-in-chief of the Chinese Communist Party-run Global Times newspaper, said: “TikTok's announcement that it will suspend services in America marks the darkest moment in the evolution of the internet. “ .”
“A country that claims to have the greatest freedom of expression has carried out the most brutal suppression of an internet application,” said Hu, now a political commentator. TikTok does not operate in China, where ByteDance instead offers Douyin, TikTok's Chinese sibling, which follows Beijing's strict censorship rules.
After the court ruling, both White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said the Biden administration would leave implementation of the law to President-elect Donald Trump, as his inauguration falls on the day after the ban takes effect falls.
But TikTok said Friday evening that it will be “forced to stay silent” unless the government provides a “final explanation” to companies like Apple, Google and Oracle that offer their services in the United States
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called TikTok's demand a “stunt” and said there was no reason for TikTok or other companies to “take motion in the subsequent few days before the Trump administration takes office.” But despite these statements from the administration, confusion continued about what would happen until TikTok began blocking its service.
By law, mobile app stores are prohibited from offering TikTok and internet hosting services are prohibited from offering the service to American users. Violators can face fines of up to $5,000 for each user who continues to access TikTok. This means that the penalties that companies face if they continue to offer TikTok could amount to a large amount.
As it is written, experts say the law does not require TikTok to shut down its platform. It is therefore unclear whether the company turned it off voluntarily or whether it was unable to continue the service after losing access support from its technology providers. The company did not respond to questions asked this week about its plans.
The statue allows the sitting president to extend the deadline by 90 days if a sale is underway. However, there are no clear buyers, and ByteDance has previously stated that it will not sell TikTok.
Artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI on Saturday submitted a proposal to ByteDance to create a new entity that would merge Perplexity with TikTok's U.S. operations, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Perplexity isn't about buying the ByteDance algorithm that feeds TikTok users' videos based on their interests and has made the platform such a phenomenon.
Other investors have also been keeping an eye on TikTok. “Shark Tank” star Kevin O'Leary recently said a consortium of investors put together by him and billionaire Frank McCourt had offered ByteDance $20 billion in money. Trump's Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also said last 12 months that he would put together a bunch of investors to purchase TikTok.
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Associated Press author Kanis Leung contributed to this story from Hong Kong.
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