The shutdown of TikTok in the U.S. left millions of users devastated late Saturday night as the popular video-sharing app went dark following a nationwide ban.
Around 170 million American users lost access after the app’s Chinese-owned parent company, ByteDance, failed to divest its stake, as required by a recent Supreme Court ruling.
TikTokers flooded social media platforms with emotional reactions. A user on X shared, “ITS GONE TIKTOK IS GONE,” accompanied by a gif of someone smoking nervously.
It’s been 15 minutes and I’m already going through TikTok withdrawal. THIS IS A CRIME pic.twitter.com/k6g1t8l9MB
— iJustine (@ijustine) January 19, 2025
Influential podcaster iJustine, with 1.8 million followers, declared, “It’s been 15 minutes, and I’m already going through TikTok withdrawals. THIS IS A CRIME.“
Makeup influencer Mikayla Nogueira, boasting 16 million TikTok followers, confessed she kept clicking the app out of habit.
“Mentally I am totally dissociating right now… This can’t be f—g real,” she lamented in an Instagram story.
By midnight, TikTok had been removed from Google and Apple app stores, and users encountered a message reading, “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now.” The outage also led to the trending of #SaveTikTok as users expressed grief and frustration.
The Supreme Court unanimously upheld a congressional law demanding ByteDance divest its U.S. operations by January 19, citing national security concerns.
ByteDance denies the allegations, but bipartisan lawmakers argue that TikTok poses a security threat due to its ties to China’s government.
Under the ban, Google and Apple face fines of $5,000 per user if they allow new downloads of the app.
President-elect Donald Trump, who returns to office Monday, told NBC News he plans to intervene.
Trump credited TikTok with helping secure his election victory and said he would “most likely” grant a 90-day extension to allow ByteDance time to negotiate a solution.
TikTok was just removed from the App Store.
— Sarah Fields (@SarahisCensored) January 19, 2025
The US Government has unconstitutionally silenced millions of voices. pic.twitter.com/IDl871koKn
TikTok’s future now hangs in the balance as millions of Americans grapple with the abrupt loss of a digital staple.
