Update, 10:30 on Sunday:
After going dark Saturday night, TikTok said it would come back online Sunday. “TikTok is in the process of restoring service,” the company stated on X. “We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive.”
On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that the ban does not violate the Constitution’s free speech protections and can proceed.
TikTok issued a statement late Friday that the app would be forced to “go dark” without an intervention from the Biden administration, as of Saturday users attempting to open TikTok were greeted with a message reading, “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now.”
The message also added: “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!”
Congress originally passed the law behind the ban on April 2024, with both Democrats and Republicans arguing that TikTok represents a national security risk for the U.S. because ByteDance is based in China — a country the government considers to be a foreign adversary.
In just a few years, the U.S. has become the country with the most TikTok users in the world, and the app has formed deep ties with the country’s economy.
Thousands of small businesses — many in California — depend on the app to reach customers. “If TikTok ends up going away … how will we reach out to Gen Z and this entire community that we’ve built?” said Meryl Marr, vice president of marketing at Straus Family Creamery, a Sonoma County dairy company.
Scrolling down the TikTok’s “For You” page this week feels like scrolling through a river of anxiety, worries and rumors, as users try to figure out what the ban actually entails. Some users have posted videos claiming that using the app after Jan. 19 will lead to jail time, while others are expressing their anger at the federal government.
“Banning TikTok is fascist,” Alex Joy Pucci, a New York-based wellness content creator with over 182,000 followers, claimed in a recent video. “Only fascist countries ban apps claiming national security.”
Keep reading for a breakdown of what the law actually said, who the ban applies to and the latest on the recent Supreme Court decision that permits the ban.