TikTok is now officially banned in the US and removed from the App Stores... for now
The United States has now officially banned TikTok, with the app being removed from the App Store and Google Play as of January 18, just hours before the enforcement date. Users who still have the app installed are now greeted with a message indicating that TikTok is unavailable due to new U.S. legislation.
This ban is a result of the "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Apps Act," which was signed by President Biden and requires TikTok to sever ties with its parent company, ByteDance. TikTok's legal challenge, which cited First Amendment rights, was unanimously rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court.
App stores are now facing fines for any new TikTok downloads in the U.S. if they do not enforce the ban. TikTok has criticized the government for not providing clarity on the app's future, stressing its significance to over 170 million American users. President-elect Trump, set to resume office tomorrow, is now seen as a potential advocate for resolving the issue, suggesting a 90-day extension for ByteDance as early as Monday.
For now, the ban extends to other ByteDance apps such as the popular video editor CapCut, the instagram-like social network Lemon8 or the popular card game MARVEL SNAP, which have been unexpectedly removed from app stores and suspended services as well.
Update: Although the app is still unavailable to most users in the US, TikTok has released a statement confirming that they are working on restoring services once again after receiving “clarity and assurance” from President Trump, indicating that the ban would not remain in effect after all.
Comments
This ban violates the law only getting off on a technicality. If politicians really cared about security they would pass digital privacy laws but they won't because they want to maintain mass control of the brainrotted populous through intimidation and fearmongering and manipulation of information. TikTok was the only major social media not under US jurisdiction. This was largely brought about by people with views they want to silence on TikTok. The government wants to shut down all dissent skirting around the constitution. They are scared of that which they can not control with threat of state violence.