TikTok starts going dark in the US

“Sorry, TikTok is currently unavailable,” the message read.

Hours before a federal law banning TikTok from the United States took effect on Sunday, the Chinese-owned social media app went dark, leaving American users unable to access videos on the platform. Instead, the app greeted them with a message that said, “A law has been enacted to ban TikTok.”

“We are fortunate that President Trump is willing to work with us on solutions,” the message said. “stay tuned!”

According to some users, TikTok also appears to have been removed from Apple and Google's U.S. app stores. Additionally, TikTok's sister app Lemon8 stopped working, displaying a “currently unavailable” message to users in the United States. Both TikTok and Lemon8 are owned by Chinese internet giant ByteDance.

TikTok became unavailable on Friday following a Supreme Court ruling that upheld a law requiring ByteDance to sell its app by Sunday or face a ban. The law was overwhelmingly passed by Congress last year and signed by President Biden. TikTok, which faces national security concerns over its relationship with China, had believed it could win a legal challenge but failed.

The outage ended a chaotic period in which TikTok had made last-minute pleas to both the Biden administration and President-elect Donald J. Trump to circumvent the law. Until Saturday night, no one (including the U.S. government) was entirely sure what would happen to the U.S. government if this law went into effect. The United States has never essentially blocked an app used by tens of millions of Americans overnight.

The law includes provisions that penalize app store operators such as Apple and Google and internet hosting companies such as Oracle for distributing or maintaining the TikTok app. Under the law, these companies can be fined up to $5,000 for each user who has access to their apps.

TikTok, Apple, and Oracle did not respond to requests for comment. Google declined to comment.

This development is a major blow to TikTok and ByteDance. TikTok has about 170 million users in the United States, who are some of the app's most profitable customers. TikTok said in court documents that even a temporary disappearance could result in users and creators leaving for other platforms and not returning even if the ban is lifted.

The situation was further complicated by the bill's implementation date at the end of Biden's presidential term. A White House press secretary indicated Saturday that the Biden administration would not begin fining businesses on Sunday.

“There is no reason for TikTok or any other company to take action in the days leading up to the Trump administration's inauguration on Monday,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. “We have stated our position clearly and openly, and it will be up to the next administration to take action to implement this law.”

Spokespeople for the White House and the Department of Justice did not respond to requests for comment after TikTok went offline.

Trump said Saturday that he “will probably find a way” to give TikTok a 90-day extension once he takes office on Monday. The law authorizes the president to extend the sale deadline only if there is “significant progress” toward a deal that would put TikTok in the hands of non-Chinese owners. It is unclear how an extension would work if the ban was already in effect.

Trump also hinted that he might sign an executive order to avoid banning the app. TikTok CEO Shou Chu is scheduled to attend Trump's inauguration on Monday.

The mood on TikTok was somber on Saturday. Alix Earle, a content creator with 7.2 million followers who rose to fame on the app in 2022, posted a tearful video mourning the platform.

“I feel like I'm going through a heartbreak,” Earle wrote in one video. “This platform is more than just an app or a job to me. I have so many memories here. I have posted every day for 6 years. I share my friends, family, relationships, personal struggles, and secrets. I have shared it.”

Other users spent their final moments recreating the viral dance on the app. The “For You” page is filled with montages of users' favorite trends and songs, many dating back to the early days of the pandemic when the app's popularity skyrocketed.

By 9pm ET on Saturday night, TikTok showed users in the US a pop-up message saying the app would soon stop working.

It said the law would “temporarily render our services unavailable.” Shortly after, TikTok went dark.

Late Saturday night, Earl found solace in an appearance on rival social media platform Instagram.

“I didn't expect this to happen this Saturday night,” she said of what happened on TikTok during a livestream on Instagram. RedNote, a Chinese video app that has recently become popular, will not be a replacement in the long term, he said.

“We need to have a little more fun here, that's what I think,” she said of Instagram.

On Sunday morning in China, TikTok's notification to U.S. users that it would be shutting down was a trending topic on Weibo, a popular social media platform similar to X.

“This is a dark moment in the development of the Internet,” Hu Xijin, former editor-in-chief of the state-run newspaper Global Times, wrote on Weibo. He wrote that the United States had set an example for “the entire Western world” in silencing voices online in the name of national security.

Diao Daming, a professor of international relations at Renmin University of China, called TikTok “the first big test that Trump 2.0 will have to face.” Trump's actions on TikTok could test his relationship with “China hawks” in Washington, Diao said in a commentary published in state media.

Claire Fu contributed reporting from Seoul. Nico Grant and Tripp Mickle contributed reporting from San Francisco. David McCabe contributed reporting from Washington.