President-elect Donald Trump said he would “very likely” give TikTok another 90 days of operation after taking office next Monday (20)
SÃO PAULO, SP (FOLHAPRESS) – TikTok stopped working in the United States on Saturday (18) night and disappeared from Apple and Google app stores before a law requiring the platform to close came into force this Sunday ( 19).
President-elect Donald Trump said he would “very likely” give TikTok another 90 days of operation after taking office next Monday (20). “The extension [do prazo de funcionamento] It’s something that will probably be done, because it’s appropriate,” Trump told NBC. “If I decide to do that, I’ll probably announce it on Monday.”
In a warning displayed to American users, TikTok mentioned the Republican’s promise.
“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US. Unfortunately, this means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are pleased that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reestablish TikTok once he takes office. Stay tuned”, says the message that appeared to users who tried to use the application on Saturday night.
Even if temporary, the closure of the application, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, is expected to have a wide-ranging impact on US-China relations, American domestic politics and the social media market.
The United States has never banned a major social media platform. The law passed by Congress gives the new Trump administration broad authority to ban or seek the sale of other Chinese-owned apps.
Other apps owned by ByteDance, such as video editing app CapCut and photo and video sharing app Lemon8, were also unavailable in US app stores as of late Saturday.
The Chinese embassy in Washington on Friday accused the US of using unfair state power to suppress TikTok. “China will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” a spokesperson said.
Uncertainty about the future of the application caused users to look for alternatives, such as RedNote, also Chinese. Rivals Meta and Snap saw their share prices rise ahead of the ban, as investors bet on an influx of users and advertising dollars.
“This is my new home now,” one user wrote in a RedNote post, tagged with the words “refugiadotiktok” and “sad.”
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew plans to attend the inauguration ceremony and a rally with Trump, a source told Reuters. On Friday (17), he thanked the Republican for his commitment to working with the company to find a solution that keeps the application available in the country.
