TikTok stopped working abruptly on Sunday in the United States.
It happened after the Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law that effectively bans TikTok across the country, starting Sunday. According to multiple published reports, the decision sided with the government’s national security concerns about the social media platform and its parent company, ByteDance, over arguments about free speech.
Users logging onto TikTok now get this message:
“Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned! In the meantime, you can still log in to download your data.”
President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn into office on Monday. He is reportedly considering a 90-day extension to avoid the ban, though he has said he has yet to make a final decision. TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration, published reports say.
TikTok’s sudden shutdown occurred a few hours before the law’s ban was scheduled to take effect. It has reportedly affected 170 million monthly users of the popular social media platform.
Some users have attempted to bypass the ban by using VPNs, or virtual private networks that hide IP addresses by routing Internet traffic through a different location. However, that alternative has reportedly not been successful.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com.
