TikTok restores service to US market of 170m subscribers
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
TikTok has restored its service to the United States upon Donald Trump’s promise that he would unban the video-sharing platform and give it a reprieve of 90 days to sort out its tangle with Washington once he gets sworn in today as President.
Trump told NBC he might give TikTok 90 more days to work out a deal that would allow it to avoid a US ban that was upheld by the Supreme Court last week.
The idea has also been floated that the US government may buy a 50 per cent stake in TikTok as part of the deal for it to continue to operate in the country, to stem fears of the platform being used by China to spy on American citizens.
TikTok had stopped working in the US late on Saturday night and disappeared from Apple and Google app stores ahead of a law that took effect on Sunday requiring the shutdown of the app.
By Sunday evening, some US users reported being able to access the Chinese-owned website, and TikTok app itself began coming back online for some users, albeit with limited functionality.
“In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service,” the company had announced earlier in a statement.
It expressed gratitude to Trump for “providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties (for) providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive.”
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