U.S. ban on TikTok takes effect 

TikTok users across the United States faced disruptions on the social media platform Saturday evening, just hours before a federal ban on the app was scheduled to take effect. The unexpected outage prevented many users from accessing or using the service, sparking widespread frustration and speculation online.

TikTok was also removed from various app stores, including those operated by Apple and Google, and its website told users that the short-form video platform was no longer available.

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When users opened the TikTok app on Saturday evening, a message popped up saying, “A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S.” “Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now.

“We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office,” the message continued, about President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to “save” the platform. The company told its users to stay tuned.

According to users, the only option given to U.S. users is to close the app or click another option that leads them to the platform’s website. There, users are shown the same message and given the option to download their data, an option TikTok previously said may take days to process.

TikTok, in another message, said that its service would be “temporarily unavailable” and told them it’s working to restore its U.S. service “as soon as possible.” 

President-elect Donald Trump expressed his intention to give TikTok a 90-day extension that would allow it to continue operating. If such an extension happens, Trump said it would “probably” be announced Monday, the day of his swearing-in as president.

In Washington, lawmakers and administration officials have long raised concerns about the app, which they see as a national security threat due to its Chinese ownership. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a technology company based in Beijing that operates the well-known video editing apps CapCut and Lemon8, both of which were also unavailable for service on Saturday evening.

AP/Chidimma Gold