Tech Desk 
Feb 14, 2025
An undated image displaying TikTok in mobile screen. — Pexels
In what seems to be the full-fledged restoration of TikTok, the renowned short-form video platform owned by China, US President Donald Trump has delayed the ban on it, making it available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store in the country.
Not only has the US president delayed the ban but has also assured the company that they won't be penalised for distributing or maintaining the social media app, as reported by Reuters.
Since its inception, TikTok has captured over half the population in the US, which was reportedly mostly displeased after it briefly went offline on January 19 when the law banning it came into effect on national security grounds.
To the delight of Americans who seemed eager to have TikTok restored in the country, Trump on the following day signed an executive order delaying the ban for 75 days.
Despite the app functioning fine on the back of a Trump-given reprieve, it was removed from the app stores of Google and Apple in the country as part of the ban.
As of Thursday, the ByteDance-owned platform announced that the app was available across app marketplaces to be downloaded in the US.
The call for further delay is said to be driven by Google and Apple, who had been looking forward to being granted permission to host or distribute TikTok without being prosecuted.
