TikTok has started restoring its services across the United States (US) after Donald Trump, whose presidential inauguration will take place today, pledged to keep the platform available.
Trump made these remarks at a rally held on Sunday. “Frankly, we have no choice,” Trump said, as quoted by Reuters. “We have to save it.”
Access to the short-video platform was blocked for users on Sunday in the US. However, following Trump’s announcement, users started reporting that TikTok’s website had begun working, though the app remained unavailable for download on the app stores.
TikTok, too, confirmed restoring its services, and expressed gratitude to Trump for “providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties (for) providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive”.
Trump will delay the federal ban through an executive order. TikTok, which has 170 million users in the US, was banned under a contentious piece of legislation, titled “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act”.
Trump, who was formerly against TikTok, came out in its support a few weeks previously, saying the app benefitted his electoral campaign significantly.
The law forces TikTok to sell its local operations in the US or face a permanent ban. TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has long been accused of having ties with the Chinese government.
Although the app has repeatedly denied reports of potential data transfers, US regulators keep expressing concerns that it could spy on American users for “traditional espionage purposes”.
More on the ban here
