Following Trump’s “assurance,” TikTok has restored U.S. service.

Nandini Roy Choudhury, writer

Brief news

• Users in the U.S. regained access to TikTok after President-elect Trump announced a delay in the federal ban on the app, promising to sign an executive order to extend the deadline.
• TikTok expressed gratitude to Trump for providing clarity to service providers, allowing them to continue offering the app to millions of Americans and small businesses, while emphasizing their commitment to free speech.
• Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding the ban and TikTok’s removal from app stores, some users were still able to access the platform, and the future of TikTok remains uncertain as ByteDance resists selling the company.

Detailed news

Some users in the United States were able to access TikTok on Sunday, following the announcement made by President-elect Donald Trump that he would delay the implementation of a federal ban on the app by signing an executive order on Monday, following his inauguration.

In a statement that was published on X, the firm had stated that it will restore access to its users in the United States.

TikTok issued a statement that stated, “In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is currently in the process of restoring service.” We would like to express our gratitude to President Trump for providing the essential clarity and assurance to our service providers that they would not be subject to any penalties for offering TikTok to more than 170 million Americans and the opportunity for more than 7 million small businesses to flourish.

For the corporation, the decision represents “a strong stand against arbitrary censorship and for the First Amendment,” as stated in the statement. In order to maintain TikTok’s presence in the United States, we will collaborate with President Trump to develop a long-term solution.

As a result of Trump’s statement that he would “issue an executive order on Monday” to prolong the period of time before the ban was scheduled to take effect, this came about as a result of his post on the social media app Truth Social.

“I am requesting that businesses not allow TikTok to remain in the dark!” In a letter he sent out on Sunday morning.

Despite the fact that TikTok was deleted from the app stores of both Apple and Google, as well as being taken down for users in the United States late on Saturday night, some users were still able to access the platform on Sunday through their mobile apps and traditional desktop computers.

Due to the fact that ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok and is based in China, had not yet sold the company to a non-Chinese corporate entity, the law that prohibits TikTok was scheduled to go into effect on Sunday. On Friday, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that upheld the law that would prohibit the application and impose penalties on third-party internet service providers, such as Apple and Google, if they continued to support TikTok on their platforms after the ban had been implemented.

It is still unknown what the future holds for TikTok in light of the present legal framework, despite the fact that the business has promised to resume operations in the United States after Trump’s announcement.

In a prior interview with Truth Social, President Trump expressed his desire for the United States to “keep it in good hands and allow it to stay up” by acquiring a fifty percent stake in TikTok through a joint venture relationship. Despite this, ByteDance has not altered its position that it does not want to sell the company in the near future.

Source : CNBC news