TikTok said Sunday it is “in the process” of restoring service to the U.S., just more than 12 hours after cutting off access to the popular video-sharing platform in anticipation of a ban.
“In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service,” TikTok said in a statement posted to the social platform X.
“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,” it continued.
“It’s a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship,” TikTok added. “We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.”
TikTok was functional once again as of 1 p.m. ET, although it had not yet reappeared on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
Trump said in a Truth Social post on Sunday that he was asking companies “not to let TikTok stay dark” and planned to issue an executive order when he takes office Monday to give the app an extension.
A law that required TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance to divest from the app or face a ban went into effect Sunday. In anticipation of the ban, TikTok shut down access in the U.S. on Saturday shortly before midnight.
The Supreme Court rejected TikTok’s challenge to the law Friday, finding it did not violate the First Amendment. However, the Biden administration said it would not enforce the law and would instead leave implementation to the incoming Trump administration.
TikTok said later Friday that it planned to “go dark” unless President Biden stepped in, arguing that the White House did not provide “necessary clarity and assurance to the service providers.” The White House dismissed the move as a “stunt.”
While Trump seemingly gave TikTok the necessary assurances, the app is not entirely in the clear. ByteDance still faces pressure to divest, including from the president-elect himself.
Trump said Sunday that he would like the U.S. to have a “50 percent ownership position in a joint venture” in order for the platform to remain available to American users.
“Without U.S. approval, there is no TikTok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars – maybe trillions,” he wrote. “Therefore, my initial thought is a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the U.S. gets a 50% ownership in a joint venture set up between the U.S. and whichever purchase we so choose.”
As Trump is prepares to take office Monday, several of the world’s biggest tech leaders will be at his side, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, who visited the president-elect at Mar-a-Lago last month, also plans to attend inauguration. Following Friday’s Supreme Court decision, Chew thanked Trump for his commitment to finding a solution to keep the available.
Updated at 1:32 p.m. EDT
