TikTok is once again available for download on Apple and Google’s US app stores following a delay in the enforcement of a ban on the Chinese-owned platform. Former President Donald Trump postponed the ban’s implementation until April 5, granting the app temporary reprieve.
The platform, used by over 170 million Americans, briefly became inaccessible in the US last month as the initial deadline loomed. Trump later issued an executive order extending the compliance deadline by 75 days, requiring TikTok to adhere to a law mandating its sale to avoid a ban.
TikTok has not yet commented on the situation, according to BBC News.
Bloomberg, which first reported TikTok’s return, revealed that the app’s reinstatement followed assurances to Apple and Google from the Trump administration that they would not face liability for allowing downloads while the ban remained unenforced.
The legislation behind the ban, which garnered bipartisan support in Congress, was signed into law by President Joe Biden. It required TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest the US version of the app to a neutral entity to prevent an outright prohibition.
The Biden administration justified the move by citing concerns that TikTok could serve as a tool for Chinese surveillance and political interference. However, both China and TikTok have consistently denied these allegations, with Beijing rejecting any calls for ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US operations.
The law was upheld by the Supreme Court, solidifying bipartisan concerns over national security risks associated with the app.
Trump himself had supported banning the app during his first term in office but he appeared to have a change of heart last year during the presidential race.
He professed a “warm spot” for the app, touting the billions of views he says his videos attracted on the platform during last year’s presidential campaign.
When the app started working again in the US last month, a popup message was sent to its millions of users that thanked Trump by name.
TikTok chief executive Shou Chew met with Trump in Mar-a-Lago after his electoral victory in November and later attended his inauguration ceremony.
Trump has said he wants to find a compromise with the Chinese company that complies with the spirit rather than the letter of law, even floating an idea of TikTok being jointly owned.
“What I’m thinking of saying to someone is buy it and give half to the US, half, and we’ll give you a permit,” he said recently during a news conference about artificial intelligence.
Former President Donald Trump also expressed openness to selling TikTok to notable figures such as Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and billionaire Elon Musk, who heads the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency.
Other potential buyers previously linked to the platform include billionaire Frank McCourt and Canadian businessman Kevin O’Leary, well-known as a celebrity investor on Shark Tank, the US equivalent of Dragon’s Den.
Additionally, Jimmy Donaldson, famously known as MrBeast and the world’s biggest YouTuber, claimed he is a contender for acquiring TikTok. This followed a surge of investor interest after he publicly shared his enthusiasm for purchasing the platform on social media.