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Instead of the high-velocity carousel of viral morsels, around 10:30 p.m. ET − 90 minutes before the shutdown deadline −TikTok users in the U.S. received a pop-up saying: “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now.”
“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now,” the message read.
“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!”
However, users are looking to incoming President Donald Trump to upturn the ban after Trump whose inauguration is Monday, January 20, gave hints he could upturn the ban after agreeing to some deals with Chinese owners of the short video app.
Under the ban, app store providers and internet hosting services could face hefty fines for making TikTok available to Americans. The app vanished from Apple and Google’s app stores. The Information reported that cloud computing provider Oracle directed staff to shut down the servers hosting TikTok.
TikTok’s abrupt disappearance marooned over 170 million monthly users who made the wildly addictive short-form video app a central part of their daily lives, from teenagers who kept up with friends and trends to creators who earned a living and a shot at internet fame there.
Now they are struggling to adapt to a world without it.
Before TikTok shuttered, one user posted a video in his bathrobe and cowboy boots, lugging a carry-on and a bottle of laundry detergent for his with more than 300,000 followers. “Me arriving to China Jan. 19 so I can still use TikTok.”
“It’s like summer camp is over and we will never see our camp friends again,” one user commented on the video that got millions of views. “I’m literally best friends with a whole bunch of strangers and I’m gonna miss all of you so damn much,” commented another.
Late Saturday night, fans mourned on other social media platforms.
“Just watched TikTok shut down in real time. First the likes and comments stopped working, then saving was disabled, then no new videos would load, then I was kicked out,” one user wrote on X. “The last TikTok I could see was of someone peacefully bopping along to if I were a fish.”
Adapted from usatoday
