TikTok Restores U.S. Service After Roughly 14 Hours Dark, Citing Trump's Assurance to Service Providers
On January 19, 2025, the short-video platform TikTok began restoring service in the United States after going dark for roughly 14 hours. The platform, based in the Culver City area of Los Angeles County, California, and used by about 170 million Americans, stopped serving U.S. users on the evening of Saturday, January 18, as Apple and Google removed it from their app stores; on the afternoon of January 19, TikTok announced it was restoring service with its providers, and the app began working again for U.S. users.
The shutdown stemmed from a federal law that had taken effect. The law required TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest its U.S. business by January 19, 2025, or face a nationwide ban; on January 17, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld the law against a First Amendment challenge. On the night of the shutdown, TikTok told users in a pop-up notice that a law banning TikTok had been enacted in the United States and that, unfortunately, they could not use TikTok for the time being.
The turn came on the morning of January 19. President-elect Donald Trump posted that after taking office on Monday he would issue an executive order extending the period before the law's prohibitions took effect so that a deal could be made to protect national security, and asked companies not to let TikTok stay dark; he also proposed that the United States hold a 50 percent ownership position in a joint venture. Without U.S. approval, Trump wrote, there is no TikTok; with approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
That afternoon, TikTok said in a statement posted through its policy account: in agreement with its service providers, TikTok was in the process of restoring service. The company thanked Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to its service providers that they would face no penalties for providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive. It called the move a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship, and said it would work with Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States. A notice shown to users as the app returned likewise credited Trump's efforts.
The restoration did not resolve the underlying legal question: as of January 19, ByteDance had not sold its U.S. business, the app remained unavailable for new downloads from the Apple and Google stores, and what followed depended on the incoming administration's executive order and any deal negotiations.
Related: Supreme Court Unanimously Upholds TikTok Divest-or-Ban Law: January 19 Deadline Stands
(Source: TikTok)
Source: TikTok
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：TikTok位于加利福尼亚州卡尔弗城的总部大楼。（Coolcaesar 摄，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons） / Photo: TikTok headquarters in Culver City, California. (Coolcaesar, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
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- 2025-01-19TikTok Restores U.S. Service After Roughly 14 Hours Dark, Citing Trump's Assurance to Service ProvidersThis story
