It happened: following the US Supreme Court’s decision to support the law banning TikTok, the video social network is not working in the country. Other ByteDance applications are also unavailable.
TikTok disappeared from the Apple App Store and Google Play, the program is unavailable online, and users who have the app installed cannot view videos. TikTok’s audience in the US, which amounts to 170 million users, received the following message:
“In the US, a law banning TikTok has been adopted. Unfortunately, this means that you cannot use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us to solve the problem of restoring TikTok when he takes office. Please stay tuned! Meanwhile, you can still log in to download your data”.
In April 2024, a bipartisan majority in both chambers of the US Congress passed a law requiring the Chinese company ByteDance, owner of TikTok, to sell the application or it will be banned in the country due to concerns about surveillance of citizens — which has now occurred. President-elect Donald Trump, whose inauguration is tomorrow, January 20, appealed to the Supreme Court asking for a delay in the ban, but the court upheld the law.
The administration of current President Joe Biden officially stated that it will leave the decision regarding TikTok to the future administration. Trump previously said that he would try to postpone the ban, but it is unclear how this will happen legally. The publication The Verge called this series of statements a “hot potato toss” in the desire to shift the responsibility for the controversial decision.
Interestingly, with the ban coming into effect in the US, some other applications related to ByteDance, such as the card game Marvel Snap, which takes place in the world of famous comics, also disappeared. The game is developed by California-based Second Dinner, but it is published by Nuverse, owned by ByteDance. Unlike the situation with TikTok, players were not warned about the cessation of operation.
In addition to TikTok and its related apps, such programs as CapCut, Lemon8, Lark applications, Gauth: AI Study Companion, and Marvel Snap disappeared from the App Store. Apple officially explained this as an obligation to comply with the laws. Programs developed by ByteDance Ltd. and its subsidiaries will no longer be available for download or update in the App Store in the US from January 19, 2025.
Sources: The Verge, TechCrunch
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