Trump Commits to Delay After TikTok Goes Dark

TikTok is no longer working for most users in America, but President-elect Trump committed on Sunday to officially delaying enforcement of the ban. Chinese parent company ByteDance began shuttering the app at 10:30pm Saturday to comply with a Supreme Court ruling on Friday, reports USA Today. Those who attempt to use the app are instead greeted by a message:

• "Sorry, TikTok isn't available right now," it reads. "A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can't use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!"

• Trump posted his intention to grant TikTok the delay he had suggested, which the legislation allows, saying he'll issue the executive order when he takes office on Monday, per Axios. He didn't give a length of the freeze; he'd earlier said it would last at least 90 days. Trump wrote on Truth Social that the period will allow time for his administration to reach a deal with the company "to protect our national security." It was Trump who began the push to ban TikTok in his first term, notes the Wall Street Journal, and President Biden signed the law into effect last April.
• The US ordered the app closed because of national security concerns given its Chinese ownership. As the New York Times reports, this is the first time the government has "blocked an app used by tens of millions of Americans essentially overnight."
• The app has roughly 170 million users in the US, and the mood was glum Saturday night. "It's like summer camp is over and we will never see our camp friends again," read one typical comment on a popular video, per USA Today. "I'm literally best friends with a whole bunch of strangers and I'm gonna miss all of you so damn much," wrote another.

(More TikTok stories.)