TikTok Begins Restoring Service After Trump Pledges Ban Reversal
After years of political and legal wrangling, the TikTok ban only lasted a few hours.
That ban went into effect Sunday (Jan. 19), but by midday, the short-form video sharing platform said it had begun restoring service.
This came after President-elect Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that he would sign an executive order extending the ban deadline, and promising there would be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark.
Trump also said he wants the U.S. to hold a 50% stake in a joint venture, though it was not clear how this arrangement would be structured.
“In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service,” the company said in a statement provided to PYMNTS, thanking Trump for “providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties.”
The company added that it would work with the new administration on a solution to keep TikTok in the U.S.
The TikTok ban was signed into law last April by President Joe Biden, with supporters from both sides of the aisle citing national security concerns related to ByteDance, the platform’s China-based owner.
“Congress is not acting to punish ByteDance, TikTok, or any other individual company,” Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, said in remarks on the Senate floor at the time.
“Congress is acting to prevent foreign adversaries from conducting espionage, surveillance, maligned operations, harming vulnerable Americans, our servicemen and women, and our U.S. government personnel.”
The law required ByteDance to find a buyer by Jan. 19. Failing that, Apple and Google were to stop supporting TikTok on their operating systems.
Since then, a few possible buyers have emerged. Last week saw a report that Elon Musk — already the owner of one social media platform and a close Trump ally — could purchase TikTok from ByteDance.
In addition, artificial intelligence (AI) search company Perplexity is also reportedly considering a deal to merge with TikTok.
ByteDance also took the ban to the U.S. Supreme Court, though the justices sided with the U.S. government, with their opinion last week citing “well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary,”
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