due to a federal national security law that banned it in the country.
Once TikTok was banned, other platforms owned by the mother company—ByteDanc—were removed. CapCut and Lemon8 were also restored on Thursday.
Former President Joe Biden passed the law after ByteDance sold TikTok to a company not owned by a Chinese entity on January 19. The concerns stemmed from the company’s direct relations with Beijing, which threatened national security and led to severe financial penalties for app store operators who did not comply. As a result, the Supreme Court upheld the law on January 17.
Even more so, right after he occupied his position on January 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that had the purpose of delaying the law, offering a 75-day period for ByteDance to find a seller.
TikTok restored their services shortly after, yet Apple and Google still kept their app out of their app stores since the terms and conditions regarding the app were still in a fog, as the law has only been deferred.
However, for the users in the US who had not installed the app, the possibility of installing TikTok was not on the table. TikTok response earlier this month was to urge Android smartphones to sideload the app, reported TechCrunch.
Yet, since then Trump has stated that he intends for the United States to own a 50% share in TikTok with the help of a joint venture and other tech companies. He also has created a sovereign fund that could participate in TikTok’s dealmaking.
The previous month, CNBC reported that TikTok traffic had almost been restored to its initial values from the pre-ban period. It is also worth mentioning that both X and BlueSky have also launched vertical video format and a video editing app similar to CapCut has also been launched.
