TikTok now inaccessible in the United States

Millions of users were cut off from TikTok in the United States on Sunday as a nationwide ban on the popular app took effect and future President Donald Trump was unable to intervene until he took office.

Removed from major digital stores hours before the ban, TikTok indicated in a message to users trying to log in that a law banning TikTok has been enacted in the United States. Unfortunately, this means you can’t use TikTok at the moment.

The message states: We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated he will work with us on a solution to restore TikTok once he takes office. Stay tuned!

The ban follows the US Supreme Court’s decision on Friday to uphold a law banning the platform in the name of national security. Unless its Chinese owners reach an agreement to sell it to non-Chinese buyers by this Sunday.

Whether it’s teenagers, dancers or grandmothers sharing cooking tips, TikTok has been adopted for its ability to turn ordinary users into global celebrities when a video goes viral.

Since Friday, the application had urged the Biden government to send a clear signal to internet providers and application store managers to dissuade them from suspending downloads and updates.

On Friday, the White House estimated that law enforcement (should) return to the next government, which takes office on Mondayaccording to a statement from spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre.

This text was passed by Congress by a large majority in April 2024, forcing the Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell TikTok under penalty of ban.

On Saturday, Donald Trump declared that he would study the matter closely once he was inaugurated on Monday, and that a 90 day postponement (would) probably be decreed.

If I decide, it will probably be Monday,” said the billionaire, who tried in vain during his first term to have TikTok banned, during an interview with NBC.

The law theoretically required providers to block downloads and updates during the night from Saturday to Sunday from midnight, under penalty of very heavy fines.

Karine Jean-Pierre described TikTok’s latest statements as maneuver. We see no reason for TikTok or other companies to act before the Trump administration takes office on Monday.

Refusal by the Supreme Court

Seized by TikTok as a last resort, the American Supreme Court unanimously refused on Friday to suspend the law.

The nine senior judges considered that the concerns of Congress in matters of national security were well founded.

American elected officials had justified the passage of the law by the need to prevent the Chinese authorities from accessing the data of American users or from manipulating opinion in the United States.

But if the platform was the subject of frank hostility from many American elected officials a year ago, the tide has since turned and a political consensus has emerged in recent days, favorable to the preservation of TikTok.

Selling to American owners?

Postponing the entry into force of the law is only theoretically possible if tangible elements make a sale credible.

However, until now, ByteDance has always officially refused to sell its jewel, even if several investors have come forward.

Businessman Frank McCourt is ready to put $20 billion on the table with other partners, for the application’s American activities, without his powerful algorithm.

On Saturday, the artificial intelligence (AI) start-up Perplexity AI submitted a merger proposal to ByteDance with the American subsidiary of TikTok, a source close to the matter told AFP, which would value the social network at least 50 billion dollars.

TikTokers hope Trump reverses decision

Donald Trump brought up TikTok during a phone conversation Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

And the boss of the social network, Shou Chew, is one of the guests of honor for his inauguration ceremony on Monday.

In addition to TikTok, all ByteDance applications in the United States were taken offline, including another social network, Lemon8, to which struggling TikTokers had migrated.

Just minutes after the suspension of the famous platform, several content creators uploaded videos to YouTube to welcome refugees de TikTok.

Thank you for following me on YouTubelaunched the sensational press star Perez Hilton, who has nearly 470,000 subscribers on the Google subsidiary video site.

Others expressed their shock and sadness at seeing their favorite application disappear from the internet, perhaps temporarily.