UPDATE: TikTok Said It’s Restoring Service After Trump Reassurance

UPDATE (Jan 19, 1:20pm ET): After President Elect Donald Trump said he would issue an executive order to delay the TikTok ban, TikTok posted a statement on X saying it is working to restore service, adding: “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.”

ADWEEK’s original story can be read below.

The vertical videos that once flowed natively from a sleek smartphone app have been replaced by a link to a website, and the trending tunes that soundtracked them have been silenced.

TikTok has officially gone dark in the U.S., at least for now.

A message on the app for U.S. users says that TikTok isn’t available for now but ends with an optimistic note that puts the ball in President Elect Trump’s court: “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!”

ByteDance’s first Hail Mary to prevent a ban of its social media app TikTok fell incomplete on the steps of the Supreme Court with Friday’s unanimous ruling upholding the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which mandated that TikTok sell to a U.S. company by Jan. 19 or face a ban in the country.

Three agency executives told ADWEEK earlier this week that the platform will automatically pause ad campaigns in the U.S. starting Sunday.

Shuree Jones, group director of paid social and influencer media at Rain the Growth Agency, told ADWEEK that historical data, campaign performance reports, and creative assets will remain accessible, and advertisers will be able to manually restart campaigns without losing data if the ban is postponed.

TikTok assured advertisers that all reserved inventory will be refunded.

The fight is far from over for TikTok, which has found an unlikely ally in President-elect Donald Trump.

Despite calling for a TikTok ban in 2020, during his first term in office, Trump is reportedly mulling an executive order that would pause the ban for 60 to 90 days to allow time for negotiating a sale of the app, or some other alternative.

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) revealed plans to introduce the Extend the TikTok Deadline Act, which would give ByteDance an additional 270 days to find a buyer.

“Although a sale is unlikely, TikTok under U.S. ownership would mark a new era for the massively popular app,” Emarketer senior analyst Minda Smiley said. “For starters, it’s unclear if TikTok’s bread and butter—its algorithm—would be part of a sale. Algorithm concerns aside, TikTok would likely operate differently under new owners. Users, creators, and brands could move on from the app if they feel as though it’s not what it used to be.”