A TikTok ban in the US that’s been in the works for years started early on Saturday with the company locking down US users — but the entire saga remains more about politics than national security.
TikTokAs of January 19, 2025, TikTok is no longer accessible within the US. The app is being removed from Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store, plus Oracle must now stop hosting the service’s US user data.
Those existing users will see only an explanatory pop-up message on launching the app. TikTok’s owners, Chinese firm ByteDance, is said to be working to allow users to download their data and personal information.
The second notification sent to users with the app installed cites some sort of discussion taking place with president elect Donald Trump, despite him being the architect of the ban in the first place.