TikTok was taken offline in the United States, hours before a new law banning the platform came into force.
A message appearing on the app aimed at US users stated that a law banning TikTok had been enacted, meaning “you cannot use TikTok at this time.”
“We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated he will work with us on a solution to restore TikTok once he takes office,” it reads.
It comes after the social media platform warned it would “go dark” on Sunday unless the outgoing Biden administration provided assurances the ban would not be enforced.
President-elect Donald Trump said he will “most likely” grant TikTok a 90-day reprieve after he takes office on Monday.
Users reported that the app was also removed from Apple and Google’s US app stores and that TikTok.com was not serving videos.
“The 90-day extension is something that will most likely be done, because it is appropriate,” Trump said. NBC News Saturday.
“If I decide to do it, I will probably announce it on Monday.”
The White House said it was up to the new administration to act.
“We see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take action in the coming days, before the Trump administration takes office on Monday,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the law passed in April last year, banning the app in the United States unless its China-based parent company, ByteDance, sells the platform by Sunday, which it didn’t do.
TikTok argued that the law violates the protection of free speech for its 170 million users in the country.
After the ruling, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew appealed to Trump, thanking him for his “commitment to working with us to find a solution.”
Mr Chew is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday.
In the hours before to social media platform offlinecontent creators were posting videos to say goodbye to their followers.
Creator Nicole Bloomgarden told the BBC that not being on TikTok would result in a significant pay cut.
Another user, Erika Thompson, said the platform’s educational content would be the community’s “biggest loss.”
TikTok users received a message Saturday saying the law “would require us to make our services temporarily unavailable. We are working to restore our service in the United States as soon as possible.”
