TikTok coming back online for US users after Trump delays ban and proposes US partial ownership

19 January 2025, 21:00

TikTok is coming back online for users across the US, despite a law banning the app on national security grounds, after Trump said he will delay the ban.

The company thanked Donald Trump for providing clarity, after he said he'll allow the Chinese-owned platform to keep operating while a deal's struck.

TikTok shut down in America on Saturday after a ban came into effect - but Donald Trump said he will issue an order to keep the app running in the near future, and proposed that the US will take partial ownership of the platform.

Trump announced the decision in a post to his Truth Social account a day after TikTok shut down for millions of its users in the U.S.

The incoming president said "I’m asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark!

"I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security."

He proposed a 'joint venture' between the United States and the current owners or new owners, in which the US would own 50% of the company.

"By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say up. 

Donald Trump will be sworn in as President of the United States on Monday, marking the start of his second term in office. 

You can watch the entire event live on Global Player, followed by reaction and analysis from 4 pm.

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"Without U.S. approval, there is no Tik Tok.  With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars - maybe trillions.

"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."

The app was removed from Apple and Google's app stores, which are prohibited from offering the platform under a law that required TikTok's China-based parent company ByteDance to sell the platform or face a US ban.

The company that runs TikTok said in a post on X that Trump’s post had provided “the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans”.

When it went dark, Americans trying to use the app saw the message: "A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US. Unfortunately that means you can't use TikTok for now.

"We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!"

Some users reported soon after TikTok’s statement that the app was working again, and TikTok’s website appeared to be functioning for at least some users.

Even as TikTok was flickering back on, it remained unavailable for download in Apple and Google’s app stores.

The US Supreme Court ruled the "dangers" the app poses to national security override questions over free speech.

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While Trump has revealed that he wants to grant TikTok a reprieve after he is sworn into office on Monday, it is unclear how he would do this from a legal standpoint.

TikTok's parent company has also been approached by potential buyers before, but has refused to sell the app.

Some legislators who voted for the sale-or-ban law, including some of Mr Trump’s fellow Republicans, remain in favour of it.

Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas warned companies on Sunday not to provide TikTok with the technical support it needs to function as it did before.

“Any company that hosts, distributes, services, or otherwise facilitates communist-controlled TikTok could face hundreds of billions of dollars of ruinous liability under the law, not just from (the Justice Department), but also under securities law, shareholder lawsuits, and state AGs,” Mr Cotton wrote on X.

“Think about it.”

TikTok’s China-based parent company had nine months to sell the platform’s US operation to an approved buyer under the law passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden last year.

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Trump’s plan to issue an executive order to spare TikTok on his first day in office reflected the ban’s coincidental timing and the unusual mix of political considerations surrounding a social media platform that first gained popularity with often silly videos featuring dances and music clips.

During his first term in the White House, Mr Trump issued executive orders in 2020 banning TikTok and the Chinese messaging app WeChat, moves that courts subsequently blocked.

When momentum for a ban emerged in Congress last year, however, he opposed the legislation.

Trump has since credited TikTok with helping him win support from young voters in last year’s presidential election.

TikTok chief executive Shou Chew is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration with a prime seating location.

Chew posted a video late on Saturday thanking Trump for his commitment to work with the company to keep the app available in the US and taking a “strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship”.

Trump’s choice for national security adviser, Michael Waltz, told CBS News on Sunday that the president-elect discussed TikTok going dark in the US during a weekend call with Chinese President Xi Jinping “and they agreed to work together on this”.