US President-elect Donald Trump makes remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, US, January 7, 2025.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
President-elect Donald Trump said he would revive access to TikTok in the US by executive order after he is sworn in on Monday, but said he wants the popular social media app to be at least half owned by American investors.
TikTok stopped working for its 170 million US users late Saturday before a law shutting it down on national security grounds went into effect on Sunday. US officials had warned that under Chinese parent company ByteDance, there was a risk that Americans’ data could be misused.
Trump said he would “extend the period of time before the law’s bans go into effect so that we can make a deal to protect our national security.”
“I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and let it have its say,” he wrote on Truth Social .
Trump said the executive order would specify that there would be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before his order.
Trump had previously said he would most likely give TikTok a 90-day reprieve from the ban after taking office, a promise TikTok cited in a notice posted to users on the app.
“A law banning TikTok has been passed in the U.S. Unfortunately, this means you can’t use TikTok right now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to restore TikTok as soon as tasked. Please stay tuned,” a message announced to TikTok users, which disappeared from Apple AND Google app stores late Saturday.
Even if temporary, TikTok’s unprecedented shutdown will have a far-reaching impact on US-China relations, US politics, the social media market and the millions of Americans who depend on the app economically and culturally.
The US has never banned a major social media platform. The law passed overwhelmingly by Congress gives the incoming Trump administration sweeping authority to ban or require the sale of other Chinese-owned apps.
Other ByteDance-owned apps, including video editing app CapCut and social lifestyle app Lemon8, were also offline and unavailable in US app stores as of late Saturday.
It wasn’t clear if any US users could still access the app, but it was no longer working for many users, and people trying to access it through a web app were met with the same message that TikTok was no longer working.
Switch to alternatives
Under the law passed last year and upheld on Friday by a unanimous US Supreme Court, the platform had until Sunday to cut ties with its China-based parent or close its US operation to settle concerns that it poses a threat to national security.
The Chinese embassy in Washington accused the US on Friday of using unfair state power to crack down on TikTok. “China will take all necessary measures to resolutely protect its legitimate rights and interests,” a spokesman said.
Uncertainty about the app’s future had prompted users – mostly young people – to look to alternatives, including China-based RedNote. Rivals Meta and Snap have seen their share prices rise this month ahead of the ban, as investors bet on an influx of users and advertising dollars.
“This is my new home now,” one user wrote in a RedNote post, tagged with the words “tiktokrefugee” and “sad.”
Minutes after TikTok shut down in the US, other users took to X, formerly known as Twitter.
“I really didn’t think they’d shut down TikTok. Now I’m sad and missing the friends I made there. I hope it’s all back in a few days,” wrote @RavenclawJedi.
‘Hair on fire’ moment
NordVPN, a popular virtual private network, or VPN, that allows users to access the Internet from servers around the world, said it was “experiencing temporary technical difficulties.”
Web searches for “VPN” spiked in the minutes after US users lost access to TikTok, according to Google Trends.
Instagram users were worried about whether they would still receive goods they had purchased on the TikTok Shop, the video platform’s e-commerce arm.
Marketing firms dependent on TikTok have rushed to prepare contingency plans in what one executive described as a “hair on fire” moment after months of conventional wisdom saying a solution would materialize to keep the app afloat.
There have been signs that TikTok could make a comeback under Trump, who has said he wants to pursue a “political solution” to the issue and last month asked the Supreme Court to stop the ban from being enforced.
TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew plans to attend the US presidential inauguration and attend a rally with Trump on Sunday, a source told Reuters.
The plaintiffs, including former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, have expressed interest in the fast-growing business that analysts estimate could be worth as much as $50 billion. Media reports say Beijing has also held talks about selling TikTok’s US operations to billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk, although the company has denied this.
US search engine startup Perplexity AI submitted an offer on Saturday to ByteDance for Perplexity to merge with TikTok US Perplexity would merge with TikTok US and create a new entity by combining the merged company with other partners, the person added.
Privately held ByteDance is about 60% owned by institutional investors such as BlackRock and General Atlantic, while its founders and employees own 20% each. It has more than 7,000 employees in the US
