TikTok has gone dark in the United States due to a new federal law that bans the popular short-form video app for millions of Americans, at least temporarily. Around 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time, TikTok users began receiving notifications about the ban. By Saturday evening, the app was no longer available for download in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
The message from TikTok reads, “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.” The message also hints that this might be a temporary situation, crediting President-elect Donald Trump for indicating that he will work on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Users are encouraged to “stay tuned!”

Earlier in the week, TikTok had warned that the app’s disappearance was imminent, stating on Friday that it would “go dark” unless the Biden administration made a “definitive statement” that it wouldn’t enforce the ban.
In April, bipartisan majorities in both the House and Senate passed a law requiring TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, to either sell the app or face a ban in the United States due to concerns over potential Chinese surveillance. President Joe Biden quickly signed the bill into law. While efforts to force ByteDance to divest the app date back to Trump’s first administration, Trump has recently taken a different stance. He asked the Supreme Court to delay the ban and stated that he would “most likely” grant the company a 90-day extension.
On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the law, and the Biden administration appeared inclined to leave the app’s fate to the next president. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre noted that with the law taking effect just before Trump’s inauguration on Monday, “actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration.” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco echoed this sentiment, stating that “the next phase of this effort — implementing and ensuring compliance with the law after it goes into effect on January 19 — will be a process that plays out over time.”
However, TikTok suggested that this was not enough assurance for “critical service providers” to continue listing or hosting the app in the United States unless the Biden administration made the aforementioned “definitive statement.” Jean-Pierre dismissed TikTok’s response as “a stunt” and claimed there was “no reason for TikTok or other companies to take actions in the next few days before the Trump administration takes office on Monday.” Regardless of whether it was a stunt, TikTok is currently unavailable.
Regarding the app’s long-term prospects, Trump has stated that he plans to “negotiate a resolution” that would likely involve a sale or other concessions from ByteDance, which has repeatedly said it is not interested in selling but seems optimistic about its prospects under Trump.
Trump reiterated on Saturday that he will “most likely” grant TikTok a 90-day reprieve from the ban once he takes office on Monday. “I think that would be, certainly, an option that we look at. The 90-day extension is something that will most likely be done, because it’s appropriate. You know, it’s appropriate. We have to look at it carefully. It’s a very big situation,” Trump told the outlet.
Many potential buyers have expressed interest in acquiring TikTok’s 170 million users, including billionaire Frank McCourt with a “people’s bid” and Perplexity AI proposing a merger. There was even a report suggesting that the Chinese government was considering a sale to Elon Musk as part of a broader deal with the Trump administration. A TikTok spokesperson dismissed that report as “pure fiction.” In the meantime, alternative Chinese-owned apps like RedNote and Lemon8 have gained popularity as TikTok users search for alternatives.