- The TikTok ban has been paused for 75 days
- Donald Trump has been working with its owner ByteDance
- Questions remain about what app stores are hosting it
TikTok might be back in the US, but it isn’t proving to be entirely smooth sailing for the video-sharing app.
The 170 million users in the United States were pleased to have access to the platform restored on 19 January, but a bump in the road remains.
Read more: Is TikTok actually getting banned?
At the time of writing, TikTok is not available to download on either Google or Apple’s app stores in the US. This move has led those who deleted the app to be unable to re-download it.
According to Reuters, some people have been shelling out more than $50,000 for second-hand phones with the app installed.
Read more: Is there a petition to stop the TikTok ban?
In addition, other apps like CapCut and Lemon8, made by their parent company, ByteDance, are not there either.
Who restored TikTok in the US?
TikTok came back to life in the United States after it was assured by the incoming president, Donald Trump, that they would not be hit with massive fines for operating.
“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 7 million small businesses to thrive,” a message read when the app was brought back on 19 January.
One of Trump’s first acts as president was to sign an executive order pausing the ban for 75 days.
Read more: What Executive Orders did President Donald Trump sign?
Upon signing it, he told reporters in the Oval Office, “I’ll tell you what Every rich person has called me about TikTok.”
This came after their CEO, Shou Zi Chew, was among the other tech executives spotted at his inauguration celebrations. This cohort included Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, billionaire Elon Musk and OpenAI’s Sam Altman.
The video-sharing app was threatened with expulsion from the American market due to bipartisan legislation accusing them of sharing US data with the Chinese government.
