Less than twenty-four hours after they were suspended to comply with a veto imposed by a bipartisan bill passed by Congress, TikTok and its partner CapCut, both owned by Chinese company ByteDance, announced on X that they are “in the process of restoring service.” The social media platform thanks incoming President Trump for “providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties” for not removing the apps from the App store.
President-elect Donald Trump, who will attain the office of the presidency tomorrow for the second time, had announced on Truth Social that as soon as he steps into the Oval Office, he will sign an executive order to make both apps temporarily operational until a U.S. buyer can be found.
On Saturday evening, hours before the social media platform’s ban, which was passed in Congress and also upheld by the Supreme Court, users who tried to log onto TikTok or CapCut received a message that read: “Sorry, the app isn’t available right now. A law banning the app has been enacted in the U.S.,” followed by a link with information about the legislation.
More than 170 million Americans use TikTok. Many content creators exploit the platform as a major source of income, promoting small businesses or big brands. Along with TikTok’s administration, some had appealed to the Supreme Court, contending that banning the law went against the First Amendment. But the justices were unmoved, responding that it is not about “suppressing freedom of expression,” but about “a government interest in national security” since the application is Chinese-owned. In this regard, many states have banned its use by all government employees.
