TikTok turns lights back on after assurances from president-elect Donald Trump

The lights are back on at TikTok, at least for now.

At 12:57 p.m. EST on Sunday, Jan. 19, TikTok issued a statement on Elon Musk’s social platform, X (formerly known as Twitter), confirming its service providers had been granted the greenlight from President-elect Donald Trump to restore service.

“In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over seven million small businesses to thrive,” stated the Chinese-owned platform in the social post.

The reversal decision comes nearly 12 hours after TikTok users in the U.S. were met with pop-up messaging that stated the app was unavailable. Shortly after the app went dark, the social platform confirmed they were working with Trump to “on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office,” nodding to his upcoming inauguration taking place on Monday.

Earlier this week, Trump invited TikTok’s chief executive Shou Zi Chew to sit in a position of honor during Monday’s inauguration. Chew has expressed his gratitude on his own TikTok video crediting Trump for pushing to keep the app online.

The on-and-off journey of TikTok in the U.S. follows the Supreme Court upholding a law requiring the app to sell to a non-Chinese owner before today’s deadline due to national security concerns. Trump has said in previous statements that he will likely give the app a 90-day extension to navigate the ban after he takes office on Monday. Trump initially was against the social platform, citing the same concerns, going as far as trying to drive the sale of TikTok to American companies in 2020 and attempted himself to have the app banned before flip-flopping on his stance.