Topline
TikTok said Sunday it was “restoring service” to U.S. users, about 14 hours after it abruptly shut itself down minutes before a nationwide ban took effect—a move prompted by President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to halt the ban when he takes office Monday by extending a deadline for China-based ByteDance to sell the app.
Timeline
1:50 p.m. EST, January 19TikTok is now back online for many American users, sending a popup message that states: “Welcome back!” adding, “As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.”—though it still does not appear to be available on Apple’s App Store.
1 p.m. EST, January 19Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who chairs the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, warned that “any company that hosts, distributes, services or otherwise facilitates communist-controlled TikTok could face hundreds of billions of dollars of ruinous liability” in a tweet responding to the company’s announcement that it’s restoring the app.
1 p.m. EST, January 19Some TikTok users reported the app has started working again.
12:30 p.m. EST, January 19TikTok tweeted it “is in the process of restoring service” and thanked Trump for “providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties,” adding the company “will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.”
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11:55 a.m. EST, January 19TikTok now greets users with a popup saying it is “working to restore our service in the U.S. as soon as possible”—but the message no longer praises Trump for promising to “work with” the platform, after drawing some criticism.
10:00 a.m. EST, January 19Trump announced he will sign an executive order Monday delaying the TikTok ban and called for the platform to be taken over by a joint venture with U.S. and current owners, also urging companies to prevent TikTok from “going dark” and vowing “no liability” for any tech firms that act before Monday (the law gives Trump the power to extend the ban for up to 90 days if ByteDance is making progress toward a sale).
7:03 a.m. EST, January 19Trump posted to Truth Social: “SAVE TIKTOK.”
12:00 a.m. EST, January 19A nationwide ban on TikTok took effect, formally barring internet service providers and app stores from offering the ultra-popular social media platform.
11:00 p.m. EST, January 18TikTok shut itself down in the United States at some point before 11 p.m. EST, greeting American users with a message that said “you can’t use TikTok for now” due to a “law banning TikTok” set to take effect Sunday—but the platform noted Trump “has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office.” (Read more here.)
12:30 p.m. EST, January 18Trump signaled he would “most likely” issue a 90-day extension on the TikTok ban, saying an announcement would “probably” come Monday, though he did not definitively say whether he would do so.
January 17TikTok said in a statement its service will “be forced to go dark” on Jan. 19 unless the Biden administration—which said earlier on Friday TikTok “should remain available to Americans” if “under American ownership”—guarantees Apple, Google and other service providers won’t be punished by supporting the app.
January 17The Supreme Court ruled the law does not violate the First Amendment rights of the app and its users, upholding the federal government’s national security argument and leaving TikTok open to a ban on Jan. 19 unless it is sold to an American company.
January 16The Biden administration does not plan to intervene against the law forcing TikTok’s ban or sale by Jan. 19, according to multiple outlets, one day after NBC News reported Biden’s team was “exploring options” on how it can avoid the app being shut down—though ABC reports Biden also won’t take action to enforce the ban against app stores or internet providers.
January 16Schumer said it is “clear that more time is needed to find an American buyer,” noting Senate Democrats’ failed attempt to pass a bill extending the Jan. 19 deadline and urging lawmakers for a solution that keeps TikTok in the U.S. while also protecting Americans’ data privacy (the law banning TikTok unless ByteDance sells the app passed on a bipartisan basis last year).
January 15TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration, according to The New York Times.
January 14ByteDance would likely expect $40 billion to $50 billion for the platform’s U.S. operations, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives estimated (other analysts have offered a range of figures for how much TikTok is worth, depending on whether the deal includes TikTok’s powerful content algorithm).
January 13Chinese government officials have considered selling TikTok’s U.S. operations to Trump-allied billionaire Elon Musk if the Supreme Court does not stop the ban from going through on Jan. 19, reported Bloomberg, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter—though the people noted the deliberations are preliminary and officials prefer to keep TikTok under the ownership of China-based ByteDance (ByteDance told Forbes it “can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction” when asked about the Bloomberg report).
January 10The Supreme Court heard oral arguments over the law requiring TikTok to be sold to a U.S. company or face a ban, with justices appearing “inclined” to uphold the law after appearing satisfied with its focus on the controversial Chinese ownership of the app’s parent company, according to The New York Times.
January 9Billionaire Frank McCourt’s Project Liberty announced a proposal to buy TikTok’s U.S. operations—but not its algorithm—by migrating American users to a locally run digital infrastructure, a deal McCourt has suggested could be worth $20 billion, with interest from other investors like “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary (it’s unclear whether ByteDance is considering the offer).
January 6O’Leary, part of The People’s Bid for TikTok, told Fox News’ Martha MacCallum he planned to buy the app and that he would need Trump’s help to do so.
January 3The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to uphold the law forcing the ban or sale of TikTok despite Trump’s support of the app, arguing TikTok has not shown enough to reason to justify a pause of the law’s date of taking effect and that Trump has not presented a viable argument for a pause.
December 27, 2024Trump opposed the potential ban of TikTok in a court filing, arguing if the Supreme Court intervenes, he could secure a “political resolution” after his Jan. 20 inauguration that would keep the app in the U.S.
December 18, 2024The Supreme Court announced it will review TikTok’s challenge against the federal law that could potentially ban the app, scheduling oral arguments for Jan. 10—just days before the law is set to become effective.
December 16, 2024TikTok requested an injunction from the Supreme Court that would block the ban against it until the conservative majority court rules on TikTok’s legality or dismisses the case, saying the pause would “create breathing room for this Court to conduct an orderly review … before this vital channel for Americans to communicate with their fellow citizens and the world is closed.”
December 16, 2024Chew met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate, according to CNN, and argued an injunction from the Supreme Court, which was ultimately not granted, would give Trump’s TikTok-friendly administration time to comment on the matter.
December 6, 2024The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied TikTok’s petition to review the law against TikTok after the court’s three-judge panel said national security concerns outweigh TikTok’s First Amendment rights, later declining TikTok’s request to halt its ruling upholding the law.
May 14, 2024Eight TikTok users sued the federal government, accusing them of First Amendment violations and calling the ban “unconstitutionally overbroad.”
May 7, 2024TikTok filed suit against the federal government, challenging the constitutionality of the ban and arguing the app and its American users were having their First Amendment rights violated.
April 24, 2024President Joe Biden signed the bill requiring TikTok to be sold or banned, provoking a response from the platform, which claimed in a statement it “invested billions of dollars to keep U.S. data safe and our platform free from outside influence and manipulation.”
April 23, 2024The Senate voted 80-19 to pass the bill, which Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said was done to “prevent foreign adversaries from conducting espionage, surveillance, maligned operations, harming vulnerable Americans, our servicemen and women, and our U.S. government personnel.”
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