Washington DC [US], January 19 : The Chinese short-form video service app TikTok went offline in the US on Saturday night (local time), just hours before a law banning the app was set to take effect, CNN reported.
The users who tried to access the platform were met with a message stating, "Sorry, TikTok isn't available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US. Unfortunately, that means you can't use TikTok for now."
The ban follows a Supreme Court ruling on Friday that upheld a law passed with bipartisan support in Congress and signed by US President Joe Biden in April.
According to CNN, the law prohibits US companies from hosting or serving content for the Chinese-owned platform unless TikTok is sold to a US-based or allied company.
However, despite the ban, TikTok hinted that it could be reinstated soon, possibly as early as Monday. The company expressed hope that US President-elect Donald Trump would work with them on a solution to restore the app, following his statement that he would likely "delay" the ban for 90 days after taking office.
Trump, in a recent interview, confirmed that the 90-day extension was under consideration, adding that a final decision would be announced on Monday, the day he would be sworn in as the 47th President of the US, which is going to be his second time at the White House.
"I think that would be, certainly, an option that we look at. The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it's appropriate. You know, it's appropriate. We have to look at it carefully. It's a very big situation," Trump told NBC News as quoted by CNN.
"If I decide to do that, I'll probably announce it on Monday," he added.
The app's disappearance from Apple's App Store and Google Play Store, along with other ByteDance apps like CapCut, also displaying similar messages, marked the beginning of the ban's enforcement, CNN reported.
The US government's concerns about TikTok's ties to China and its potential access to vast amounts of user data were central to the ban. Many US users, including influencers and small business owners who relied on the app, expressed disappointment but still hoped for a resolution.
The Supreme Court's decision left TikTok with few legal options, and some tech companies that operate app stores and servers feared potential legal consequences for violating the terms of the ban, prompting them to remove the app, CNN reported.
However, Trump, who had previously raised concerns about TikTok, is now positioning himself as the app's potential saviour. TikTok's CEO, Shou Chew, has also met with Trump in the lead-up to the ban and is expected to attend Trump's inauguration on Monday.
The future of TikTok in the US now rests on the incoming administration, with President Biden indicating that the decision would fall to Trump's administration.
According to CNN, the 90-day extension claimed by Trump was based on a law passed last year that allows the president to postpone the ban for 90 days, provided there is evidence that efforts to sell TikTok to a US-owned company have made significant progress.