TikTok has restored its service less than 24 hours after a US ban forced the social media firm to switch off, giving thanks to a promise from incoming President Donald Trump. One of the last acts of the Joe Biden administration was to ban video sharing platform TikTok citing national security concerns, but the ban […]
TikTok has restored its service less than 24 hours after a US ban forced the social media firm to switch off, giving thanks to a promise from incoming President Donald Trump.
One of the last acts of the Joe Biden administration was to ban video sharing platform TikTok citing national security concerns, but the ban lasted less than a day, with the Chinese owned platform restoring service after Trump pledged to lift the ban as soon as he comes to power.
Trump is due to be inaugurated today (January 20), and the incoming president took to his own social media platform – Truth Social – with a promise to sign an executive order handing TikTok’s owner ByteDance an extension to find a new owner for the app.
“I’m asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark,” the president-elect wrote, adding the order will allow time “so that we can make a deal to protect our national security”.
The ban – which was signed by Biden last April – required that ByteDance find a buyer by Sunday, or face being shutdown. It was to be enforced by threatening US firms that supported TikTok, including those such as Apple and Google which offered the app in their Appstores.
Figures from Cloudflare reveal that the US saw an 85% drop in traffic to TikTok and ByteDance’s platform, which also includes CapCut, on January 19. Meanwhile RedNote saw a 74% surge in the same period in the US, while it also spiked 53% in the UK and recorded increased traffic in Mexico (+500%), Germany (+110%) Canada (+68%) and France (+75%).
TikTok said it had started restoring service on Sunday, thanking the president for clarifying to service providers “that they will face no penalties providing TikTok”.
Trump also suggested any possible deal could see the US government take part ownership of the social media platform, alongside ByteDance or another buyer.
“Without US approval, there is no TikTok,” he said. “With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars – maybe trillions.”
Trump turnaround
Biden’s ban had received bi-partisan support, but the TikTok U-turn is a clear sign of the impact Trump is having on the tech sector before he has even set foot back in the White House, following his election win over Kamala Harris in November.
During his first term in power, Trump had attempted to ban TikTok as well as Chinese-owned messaging app WeChat, but this was blocked by US courts.
Trump has claimed TikTok played a vital role in his bid to win younger voters during the election, and he met with TikTok boss Shou Zi Chew last year. The TikTok CEO is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration, where he will sit alongside other tech executives including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos, according to a report from NBC.
Read more here: US Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban: ByteDance ordered to divest ownership
