TikTok is down in the US

TikTok and CapCut’s apps have started to shut down in the US after telling users the ban would ‘force us to make our services temporarily unavailable.’

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By Richard Lawler, a senior editor following news across tech, culture, policy, and entertainment. He joined The Verge in 2021 after several years covering news at Engadget.

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TikTok and CapCut are going dark in the US now that the ban-or-divest law passed last year has taken effect.

This is despite the Biden administration saying it had already passed enforcement responsibilities on to the Trump administration and calling TikTok’s threat to go offline a “stunt.” But TikTok insisted that without clearer assurances, it has to close up shop in the US.

Inside TikTok, an email to employees said that “President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office” on the 20th, and that “teams are working tirelessly to bring our app back to the U.S. as soon as possible.”

On Saturday evening, starting at 9PM ET, a warning message appeared in two ByteDance apps, TikTok and CapCut, telling users that:

We regret that a US law banning TikTok will take effect on January 19th and force us to make our services temporarily unavailable.
We’re working to restore our service in the US as soon as possible, and we appreciate your support. Please stay tuned.

Both apps began blocking users around 10:30PM ET. A message now appears in the app saying that TikTok “isn’t available right now” but that the company expects a resolution under President-elect Trump:

Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now
A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means 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. Please stay tuned!

TikTok now displays a warning when opened and won’t allow users to watch videos.

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Developing…