“TikTok,” a Chinese video sharing platform that suspended its service hours before the enforcement of the “TikTok Prohibition Act” in the United States, has restored some of its services in the United States.
TikTok announced in a statement posted on X that day, “With the agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring the service.”
“I am grateful that President-elect Trump has given confidence to our service providers that they will not face any punishment,” he said. “We will work with President-elect Trump to find a long-term solution to maintain TikTok in the United States,” he said.
After the announcement, TikTok users in the U.S. will be able to access the application and use the service again, CNN and other media reported. The users who ran the TikTok app again received the message, “Welcome back. Thank you for your patience and support. Thanks to President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S!”
However, it is still impossible to download a new app if you are not an existing app user. Apple said in a statement issued the day before the suspension of TikTok’s service, “Apple is obligated to follow the laws within the jurisdiction of the business.”
TikTok’s move came after Trump said he would issue an executive order suspending the enforcement of the “TikTok Prohibition Act” if he took office the next day.
Trump said in a post on Truth Social, his SNS, that he would issue an executive order on the 20th, the day of his inauguration, to extend the period of sale of TikTok U.S. business rights specified in the TikTok ban.
Trump also asked related businesses in the United States to ensure that TikTok services are not suspended, saying he would not hold them legally responsible under the TikTok ban.
Earlier, the U.S. Congress enacted a TikTok ban in April last year, saying that TikTok’s parent company, China ByteDance, could threaten national security by collecting American personal information on a large scale. The main point of the law was to ban new downloads of TikTok from the 19th if ByteDance does not sell its U.S. business rights to companies in the U.S. Ahead of the enforcement of the law, TikTok suspended its TikTok service in the U.S. on the night of the 18th.
JULIE KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
