Less than a day after, the app went offline in U.S. App stores, TikTok began restoring its services on Sunday after President Trump said he would revive the app's access in the U.S when he returns to power on Monday.
In a statement on X, TikTok wrote
"TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers."
75 day extension for TikTok
Apparently, the newly inaugurated US President Donald Trump has ordered for a 75 day extension on enforcing a law that would effectively ban TikTok in the US, marking one of his first acts in the office.
The executive order delayed the implementation of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which was supposed to come into effect on Jan 19 and would prohibit the distribution and updating of TikTok in the United States.
During the signing of the order, President Trump credited the app for delivering him the youth vote in his election
"I guess I have a warm spot for TikTok that I didn't have originally, but I went on TikTok and I won young people."The TikBok ban that was passed by President Biden over concerns that the Chinese government could be exploiting the app to spy on Americans or covertly influencing the US public opinion through data collection and content manipulation would have left millions of dismayed users barred from the app.
The executive order by Trump would absolve service providers like Google or Apple of any responsibility for continuing to host or update TikTok during this period. This would be a crucial reassurance for major companies like Google or Apple, who were initially required to remove TikTok from their app store and block updates if not they could face penalties of up to US$5,000 per user.
The 75 day grace period is intended for the new administration to pursue a resolution that could both protect the national security while preserving the platform for the 170 million American users who use the app every single day.