TikTok is not available in the US, and it is gone from the App Stores
How to Stop Using TikTok, or Why You Can’t Use It, and How to Protect Your App Stores From Fines in the U.S.
Donald Trump cannot simply extend the TikTok ban deadline and protect American companies that support it from fines if he chooses to do so.
If companies are breaking the law, they would likely have a strong due process defense given Trump’s promises not to enforce it, Schettenhelm says. He says that whenever you violate the federal law, you have to fight over the issue. “Yes, it’s probably a winnable fight, but when it’s a fight over $850 billion in exposure, it’s probably better to not have to get into that fight at all.”
Someone with a right to file a lawsuit could challenge Trump in court if he goes ahead with his plan to overrule Congress. Who might this be? One possibility is for TikTok users who support the ban to not use it because they are afraid the Chinese government will get their data. “Of course, the courts might say, ‘well, then don’t use TikTok,’” Rozenshtein points out. A competitor might be able to bring a claim, he says. Or a service provider like Apple or Google could try to get a court to clarify their legal liability, without actually challenging the arrangement. But given tech companies’ attempts to avoid antagonizing Trump, that route seems unlikely.
Instead, the law puts pressure on Apple and Google to delete TikTok from their app stores, or risk accumulating millions of dollars in fines. TikTok and other apps owned by ByteDance were apparently taken down by both companies as of Saturday. The two companies didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The law also bans companies from providing data hosting services to TikTok. Oracle, which counts TikTok as one of its largest cloud computing customers, reportedly began telling staff to shut down servers that host US TikTok data on Saturday, according to The Information. Oracle did not immediately return a request for comment.
TikTok, Facebook, and Twitter: Online Speech in the Presence of a Disruption, a Free Press Freedom, and the First Amendment
“It’s a blatant violation of the First Amendment,” says Evelyn Douek, a professor at Stanford Law School who specializes in online speech issues. Everyone listening to my opinion, even the Supreme Court justices who disagree, will listen to it. It’s hard to take the national security justification seriously, however, when in recent days presidents past and future, and even members of Congress seem to have reversed themselves on the issue of an immediate shutdown.
On Blind, an anonymous messaging app popular with tech workers, some TikTok employees spiraled about whether they’d have jobs next month, while others went about business as usual. “Anyone else’s manager still scheduling meetings next week about new, upcoming projects without acknowledging the ban whatsoever?” wrote one user. “I have 2025 strategy meetings next week,” another user responded. I am doing what I am told to do. It’s comforting in a way.”
TikTok, along with other Byte Dance-owned apps, is currently not in the US app stores. Several users have reported that they were able to access their timelines again after they were made unavailable last night. Some of them had regained access to their accounts, but with different degrees of function.
