TikTok said on Sunday that it is restoring its service after President-elect Donald Trump indicated he would revive the app’s access in the US when he takes office on Monday. The Chinese-owned short-video app was forced to stop working for US users late on Saturday after a law shutting it down on national security grounds took effect.
TikTok stopped working for US users late on Saturday before a law shutting it down on national security grounds took effect on Sunday. US officials had warned that under Chinese parent company ByteDance, there was a risk of Americans’ data being misused.
In a statement, TikTok thanked Trump for “providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties for providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive.”
TikTok was forced to stop working for US users after a law passed overwhelmingly by Congress gave the incoming Trump administration sweeping authority to ban or seek the sale of other Chinese-owned apps.
Trump said he would “extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security.” He also said he would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture.
Trump’s move to save TikTok represents a reversal in stance from his first term in office, when he aimed to ban the app over concerns the company was sharing Americans’ personal info with the Chinese government.
Republican senators Tom and Pete Ricketts said in a joint statement: “Now that the law has taken effect, there is no legal basis for any kind of ‘extension’ of its effective date. For TikTok to come back online in the future, ByteDance must agree to a sale that satisfies the law’s qualified-divestiture requirements by severing all ties between TikTok and Communist China.”
The move is set to have a wide-ranging impact on US-China relations, US politics, the social media marketplace, and millions of Americans who depend on the app economically and culturally.
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. Suitors 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.