TikTok ban latest: App remains shut down Sunday, but for how long?

TikTok went dark as promised Saturday night, hours before a federal ban took effect and despite assurances from the White House that it wouldn’t enforce the new law.

The company's app was removed Saturday evening from prominent app stores, including the ones operated by Apple and Google, while its website told users that the short-form video platform was no longer available. President-elect Donald Trump, meanwhile, posted a two-word response Saturday night on his Truth social platform: "SAVE TIKTOK!"

What’s next for TikTok? 

What we know:

Users opening the TikTok app on Saturday encountered a pop-up message preventing them from scrolling videos that read, "Sorry, TikTok isn't available right now."

"A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S.," the message said. "Unfortunately that means you can’t use TikTok for now."

The only option the message gives to U.S. users is to close the app or click another option leading them to the platform's website. There, users are shown the same message and given the option to download their data, an action TikTok previously said may take days to process.

RELATED: Here’s how to download your TikTok videos and data

Under the new law, mobile app stores are barred from offering TikTok and internet hosting services are prohibited from delivering the service to American users. Violators could incur fines of up to $5,000 for each user who continues to access TikTok, meaning penalties the companies could face if they continue offering TikTok could total to a large sum.

What we don't know:

How long the platform will remain dark is unclear.

After the Supreme Court upheld the TikTok ban, both White House and Justice Department officials said the Biden administration would leave the law’s implementation to Trump given that his inauguration falls the day after the ban takes effect. The White House  called TikTok’s demand a "stunt" and said there was no reason for TikTok or other companies "to take actions in the next few days before the Trump administration takes office." 

RELATED: Biden won’t enforce TikTok ban, leaving fate of app up to Trump

Despite those statements from the administration, confusion lingered about what would happen until TikTok began blocking its service.

As its written, experts said the law does not require TikTok to take down its platform, so its unclear if the company voluntarily shut it down or was unable to continue the service alive after losing access support from its tech providers. The company did not respond to questions sent this week about its plans.

Will Trump save TikTok? 

What they're saying:

In an interview with NBC News on Saturday, Trump said he was thinking about giving TikTok a 90-day extension that would allow them to continue operating. If such an extension happens, Trump — who once favored a TikTok ban — said it would "probably" be announced Monday, the day that he is sworn in as president. 

TikTok CEO Shou Chew posted a video thanking Trump for his commitment to work with the company to keep the app available in the U.S. and a "strong stand for the first amendment and against arbitrary censorship."

RELATED: Trump considers 90-day TikTok extension as app announces temporary US shutdown

"We are grateful and pleased to have the support of a president who truly understands our platform. One who has used talk to express his own thoughts and perspectives, connecting with the world and generating more than 60 billion views of his content in the process," Chew said.

Chew is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration with a prime seating location.

"We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office," the notice on TikTok’s website states, in a reference to Trump's pledge to "save" the platform. The company told its users to stay tuned.

TikTok concerns

The backstory:

In Washington, lawmakers and administration officials have long raised concerns about the app, which they see as a national security threat due to its Chinese ownership. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a technology company based in Beijing that operates the well-known video editing app CapCut and Lemon8, both of which were also unavailable for service Saturday evening.

The federal law required ByteDance to cut ties with TikTok by Sunday or face a nationwide ban. The statute was passed by Congress in April after it was included as part of a high-priority $95 billion package that provided foreign aid to Ukraine and Israel. President Joe Biden quickly signed it, and then TikTok and ByteDance quickly sued on First Amendment grounds.

RELATED: Duolingo reportedly sees spike in Americans learning Chinese as TikTok users move to RedNote

While defending the law in court, the Biden administration argued it was concerned about TikTok collecting vast swaths of U.S. user data that could fall into the hands of the Chinese government through coercion.

Officials have also warned the algorithm that fuels what users see on the app is vulnerable to manipulation by Chinese authorities, who can use it to shape content on the platform in a way that’s difficult to detect. But to date, the U.S. has not publicly provided evidence of TikTok handing user data to Chinese authorities or tinkering with its algorithm to benefit Chinese interests.

The Supreme Court unanimously decided on Friday the risk to national security posed by TikTok's ties to China overcomes concerns about limiting speech by the app or its 170 million users in the United States.

Will ByteDance sell TikTok? 

Dig deeper:

The law allows the sitting president to extend the deadline by 90 days if a sale is in progress. But no clear buyers have emerged, and ByteDance has previously said it won’t sell TikTok.

On Saturday, artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI submitted a proposal to ByteDance to create a new entity that merges Perplexity with TikTok U.S. business, according to a person familiar with the matter.

RELATED: States sue TikTok over claims it's addictive, harmful to children

Perplexity is not asking to purchase the ByteDance algorithm that feeds TikTok user’s videos based on their interests..

Other investors have also been eyeing TikTok. "Shark Tank" star Kevin O’Leary recently said a consortium of investors that he and billionaire Frank McCourt put together offered ByteDance $20 billion in cash. Trump’s former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also said last year that he was putting together an investor group to buy TikTok.

The Source: This report includes information from the Associated Press and previous LiveNow from FOX reporting. 

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