TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jan 22, 2025

After a blackout that lasted about 14 hours, TikTok returned to the U.S. on Sunday. The video app was taken offline Saturday night in compliance with a law that effectively banned the service nationwide unless it separates from ByteDance, its China-based owner. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the law. On Saturday, Google and Apple removed the app from their stores, a requirement of the ban, which also prohibits web-hosting companies from providing back-end support to the app, National Public Radio reports. On Sunday morning, President Donald Trump issued a statement vowing to pause the law and protect tech companies while the app's future is worked out. On Monday, the president signed an executive order giving U.S. leaders 75 days to find a buyer, according to the Associated Press. Despite that action, Apple and Google reportedly are not allowing new users to download the app or allowing current users to install updates or make in-app purchases.