TikTok went offline in the US, hours before a new law banning the platform was due to take effect.
A message that appeared on the app for US users said a law had been passed banning TikTok, meaning “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,” the text said.
It comes after the social media platform warned it would “go dark” on Sunday unless the outgoing Biden administration guaranteed the ban would not be enforced.
President-elect Donald Trump said he would “most likely” give TikTok a 90-day reprieve from the ban after he takes office on Monday.
Users reported that the app was also removed from Apple and Google’s US app stores, and TikTok.com was not displaying videos.
“The 90-day extension is something that will most likely be done because it’s appropriate,” Trump told NBC News on Saturday.
– If I decide to do so, I will probably announce it on Monday.
The White House said it was up to the new administration to take action.
“We see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take action in the next few days before the Trump administration takes office on Monday,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
The Supreme Court’s ruling on Friday upheld a law passed last April, banning the app in the US unless its China-based parent company, ByteDance, sells the platform by Sunday, which it has not done.
TikTok has challenged the law, arguing that it violates free speech protections for its 170 million users in the country.
In the hours that preceded to a social media platform that goes offlinecontent creators posted videos to say goodbye to their followers.
Creator Nicole Bloomgarden told the BBC that not being involved in TikTok would result in a significant pay cut.
Another user, Erika Thompson, said educational content on the platform would be the “biggest loss” to the community.
TikTok users received a message earlier Saturday saying the law “will force us to make our services temporarily unavailable. We are working to restore our service in the US as soon as possible.”