Tech Desk 
Jan 20, 2025
TikTok is restoring its service in the United States after being offline for 14 hours. The company announced on social media that it had reached an agreement with its service providers on Sunday.
However, TikTok thanked President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to its partners, ensuring they will face no penalties for providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and supporting over 7 million small businesses.
TikTok restores in US after 14-hour ban
The TikTok ban began at 10:30pm ET on Saturday when a federal ban was enacted. Apple removed the app from the App Store, stating it must follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates.
Moreover, the responsibility of enforcing the federal TikTok ban falls to TikTok's partners like Apple, Google, and Oracle. However, TikTok's statement indicates that it has reached an agreement with service providers to ignore the law due to lack of enforcement.
President Trump’s assurance for TikTok partners
President Trump posted on social media that he would issue an executive order to extend the period before the law's prohibitions take effect. This move is intended to provide the necessary clarity for TikTok's partners to restore access to the service.
Whereas, Trump also suggested that the United States could have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture for TikTok. The Biden administration had previously indicated it would not enforce the ban, passing that responsibility to the Trump administration.
Despite this, TikTok chose to go dark on Saturday night, a move the Biden team called a "stunt." Today's announcement from TikTok comes after Trump's social media post, which reassured web-host providers Oracle and Akamai.
As of now, Apple has not commented on TikTok's announcement, and the app remains unavailable in the App Store. The law allows a president to delay the TikTok ban by 90 days if there is evidence of significant progress toward a potential sale.
However, there is no evidence that TikTok has made any progress toward a sale.
