TikTok is working again in US just hours after shutting down — and it’s thanks to Trump
TikTok was up and running again Sunday — hours after President-elect Donald Trump vowed to keep it “from going dark.”
The Chinese social media app confirmed it was in the process of restoring service in a statement posted to X — and praised Trump for his part in getting the site back.
“We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive,” TikTok Policy wrote on X.
“It’s a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States,” the statement said.
In a “Welcome back!” message that pops up on the app post-ban, users were told: “Thank you for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the US!”
Delighted TikTok users took to other social-media sites to share they had regained access to their accounts.
They included many New Yorkers, who rejoiced over the good news while also expressing shock that the ban ended so quickly.
“That was fast!” said a user walking in Central Park.
Taylor Wilcox, a 28-year-old Brooklynite who works in social media marketing, was also surprised by the speed in which the app returned.
“Am I surprised? No. But I did think it would take until Monday,” she said. “It’s clear. I mean maybe it’s not 100% clear, but to me it seems clear that this is kind of all orchestrated by Trump, like he’s the one who initially introduced the ban in the first place in 2020 and now he’s miraculously saving it.”
Despite her skepticism, Wilcox was pleased.
“Obviously, I’m really happy that it’s back because I personally love it. It’s my favorite app,” she said.
The news came hours after Trump said he would issue an executive order Monday to “keep TikTok from going dark.” In announcing his plans to save the app, Trump, 78, said the US would take 50% ownership in a joint venture to buy the platform.
It was not clear whether Trump meant that he wanted the US government to partially own the app.
TikTok’s parent company ByteDance had previously been given nine months — or till Jan. 19 — to either sell the platform’s US business or be banned from the country.
The ban had been overwhelmingly passed by both chambers of Congress in April and subsequently signed into law by President Biden.
But Trump, who originally backed the ban in 2020, said Sunday that he hoped to give the app a 90-day extension to find it a non-Chinese owner — prompting the company to go back online without fear of retribution.
TikTok, which claims to have a user base of over 170 million in the US alone, has long triggered national security concerns, including over giving China access to a slew of American data.
Despite Trump’s change of heart over the app, some Republicans and tech moguls remained adamantly against allowing it back online as is, citing continuing national security risks to the US.
“Unless and until TikTok is no longer controlled by Beijing, the national security threat that motivated the divestiture law hasn’t been addressed,” Evan Swarztrauber, a senior fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation, told The Post on Sunday.
Other tech experts slammed the app for creating a “manufactured sense of panic” by pulling the plug on its US operations before even the day was out, only to quickly restore them again.
“TikTok’s early shut down either came down to corporate incompetence or a deliberate PR stunt to encourage a manufactured sense of panic,” said Joel Thayer, a DC-based tech lawyer and president of the Digital Progress Institute. “Given it’s waffling, I’m assuming it’s the latter.
“The truth is that, even before Congress enacted the law, the US has told TikTok how to fix its blatant national security concerns for over five years, and the company did nothing,” Thayer said. “Now, after it attempted to bring bogus First Amendment claims to delay the law’s enforcement and on the eve of its ban, it wants a pity party. Sorry, but the company is frankly an unsympathetic and disingenuous broker.”
US Sen. Tom Cotton also voiced concern after the app was reportedly back for millions of Americans.
