On Saturday, January 18, 2025, consumers around the United States opened up TikTok and were immediately informed of the app’s decision to suspend service beginning Sunday, January 19.
“We regret that a U.S. law banning TikTok will take effect on January 19 and force us to make our services temporarily unavailable,” a message from TikTok states.
“We’re working to restore our service in the U.S. as soon as possible, andwe appreciate your support. Please stay tuned.”
The message pops up throughout the app just one day after the U.S. Supreme Court voted to upheld Congress’ ban of the app unless its parent company, ByteDance, sells its U.S. assets by Sunday, January 19. President Joe Biden has said that he would not enforce the ban and left it to President-Elect Donald Trump to make the final decision. As it stands, the former host of The Apprentice says he hasn’t made a final decision yet and indicated that he would like to have more time to weigh all options.
“I think that would be, certainly, an option that we look at. The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it’s appropriate. You know, it’s appropriate. We have to look at it carefully. It’s a very big situation,” he told Meet The Press anchor Kristen Welker.
TikTok is not the only popular app to be shut down ahead of a potential ban. ByteDance’s popular video editing software, CapCut, will also remain idle as its parent company confronts Congress.
“Sorry, CapCut isn’t available right now,” a message from CapCut reads.
“A new law banning CapCut has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use CapCut for now. Rest assured, we’re working to restore our service in the U.S. Please stay tuned! In the meantime, you can still manage your account data.”
