Don't call it a comeback. TikTok's services are restored in the U.S. after President-elect Donald Trump pledged to sign an executive order to save it.
It's been a wild 24 hours to say the least — starting with TikTok preemptively shutting down the app for users from 10:30pm on January 18. After this, the ban officially came into effect on January 19, and with CapCut and Marvel Snap both also owned by TikTok's parent company ByteDance, people started to realize how far reaching this could be.
But the ban lasted all of 12 hours, as services were restored along with a pop-up that reads: "Welcome back! Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump's efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!"
This followed a Truth Social post where Trump talked about plans to issue an executive order to extend the timeline for ByteDance to find an approved buyer before the ban is enforced. All signs are pointing to this happening on his first day in office, immediately following the inauguration at 12pm ET today. Here's how to watch it.
And that's what we're here to cover live — any rumblings or confirmations of what will be happening over the next few hours, alongside a bit of a timeline of how we got here. Check out the full backstory of everything that's happened so far too!
Live: Latest updates
How did we get here?
It's a fair question to ask. "It's back" is trending all over X with TikTok users celebrating Trump's commitment to sign an executive order saving it, but that's not always been his position.
You see, the snowball effect for all of this started back in August 2020 when Trump signed an executive order to attempt to ban the app. In it, he talks about how the app "continues to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States."
Trump changed course in March 2024, when he argued that while there were national security concerns, TikTok would empower Facebook — a social media platform that he branded the "enemy of the people."
But by this point, congressional hearings had already been happening for 12 months, and a bill to ban the platform had already gathered steam in Congress.
Is Meta's CapCut Copycat already DOA?
TikTok wasn't the only ByteDance-owned app that went down for those 12 hours. CapCut also bit the dust, and while everyone scrambled for CapCut alternatives, Meta swooped in with its own copycat called Edits.
“Now there’s a lot going on in the world right now, and no matter what happens, we think it’s our job to create the most compelling creative tools for those of you who make videos — for not just Instagram, but for platforms out there — as we can,” explained Instagram's head honcho Adam Mosseri in a video message.
But with the app not set to go live until February, is it already DOA — given CapCut is already back? Time will tell, but this could be opportunism that comes way too late.
The shift to TikTok alternatives was huge yesterday
We're starting to get more of a look at what exactly happened during the outage of TikTok. The results, according to Cloudflare, was an 85% drop in traffic to anything related to ByteDance-owned platforms — timed perfectly to the popup people saw saying TikTok wasn't available.
At the same time, RedNote saw a 74% surge on the 19th. But most interestingly, this doesn't seem to be just a U.S. thing. Globally, there was a 500% increase in Mexico, a 68% increase in Canada, 53% in UK, 110% in Germany and 75% in France.
While we don't know what has happened yet since restoration of the platform (expect those numbers soon), it does show that social platform allegiance moves as a sort of global conscience!
RedNote is showing users what Chinese-style censorship is actually like
On the run up to the TikTok ban and during the 12 hours it was out, users flocked to Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote. But in doing so, people are getting a real taste of censorship.
According to CNN, users have ran into censorship rules that "go far beyond what they're used to." China's internet is built to censor an "ever-growing list of terms deemed sensitive, either politically or otherwise," which has translated into huge amounts of content being moderated and removed for violating guidelines.
One such example was one American user who identified themselves as 'non-binary' being censored in a post that asked if the platform welcomed gay people. Another involved a male fitness influencer not being able to post photos of his fitness journey because content moderators quickly shut it down as "sexually suggestive."
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Flashes is an Instagram alternative
The search for a TikTok alternative may be waning as the service is restored, but you may also be searching alternatives to Instagram with Zuckerberg's recent "masculine energy" turn being a deterrent to many.
Enter Flashes, which could be considered the Bluesky for Instagram. Flashes is built on top of Bluesky's open protocol and is meant to operate similarly to Instagram. It also means you can share images and videos from Flashes to your Bluesky account.
Right now, the creator says it won't offer all the same features as Instagram, but it's not a Meta platform and that may be appealing enough.
Meanwhile, Instagram is adding a number of new features to Reels, its TikTok ripoff. These include a new Reels feed of videos your friends have liked or commented on.
Don't expect TikTok to get the same treatment in UK
TikTok has really been through the wringer in the U.S. over the past 24 hours. But what about globally? Well we know one thing for sure — the video platform is not in the UK's crosshairs.
As reported by The Guardian, Labour MP Darren Jones told the BBC has confirmed that there is "no plan from the U.K." to ban the app. "...for consumers who want to post videos of their cats or dancing, that doesn’t seem like a national security threat to me."
So if you're on my side of the Atlantic (my last name is a dead giveaway of that), don't expect any sort of restrictions to be put in place any time soon "unless or until, at some point in the future there is a threat that we are concerned about in the British interest."
TikTok is still unavailable in app stores
So while TikTok services have been restored in the U.S., the app is still technically banned. And in response, you may be searching for the app and not seeing it in the iOS App Store or Google Play.
That's because the risk is still significant, to the tune of $5,000 for each new user if these app stores continued to host the app. My anticipation is that if/when the executive order is signed, we will see the store pages return for you to download TikTok.
Time will tell, and nothing is for certain right now.
How long could Trump delay the TikTok ban for?
The Washington Post has reported that President-elect Donald Trump's executive order would suspend enforcing the TikTok ban for between 60 and 90 days.
Trump appears to believe that saving TikTok will help him reach an "adoring audience" that reportedly is on the app.
It's a strange twist in the TikTok saga since the ban law was initially kickstarted toward the end of his first term and finalized during President Biden's administration.
Keen to download the app again? You can get around the ban with a VPN (provided you're on Android)
We may be on the other side of the TikTok ban, but the app is still not appearing on the iOS App Store and Google Play Store. While you're out of luck on Apple's side, we're hearing reports that using one of the best VPNs can get you access to it.
We've put together a guide on how to use a VPN and which ones we think you should try out.
This is a lot more safe than trying to download the Android Package file from a third party site (APK), as you can never be sure what's been snuck into the code through these services.
Why you can't download TikTok on iOS?
In a move that's virtually unheard of, Apple has issued a support document explaining why ByteDance apps were removed.
As first spotted by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in a post on X, Apple has issued a support document about TikTok titled: “About availability of TikTok and ByteDance Ltd. apps in the United States."
The document lists other affected apps besides TikTok, such as Marvel Snap, Lemon8 and CapCut, that Bytedance owns. “If you already have these apps installed on your device, they will remain on your device. But they can’t be redownloaded if deleted or restored if you move to a new device. In-app purchases and new subscriptions are no longer possible,” Apple explains. The company goes on to say that if you try to access these apps in the U.S., you will be “unable to download, update, or make in-app purchases and new subscriptions inside ByteDance Ltd. apps while within the land or maritime borders of the United States.” Once you leave the U.S., full functionality returns.
China suggests it is "open to a deal" to keep TikTok in U.S.
A new report from The Wall Street Journal has just come out, stating that China has suggested it's willing to work with President Elect Trump to keep TikTok working in the U.S.
Up until this point, the Chinese government's position was to block any forced sale of TikTok. But in quite the 180, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has said that companies can make their own decisions.
This is the first we've heard from Chinese officials since Trump posted on Truth Social looking for a 50-50 split control between U.S. and Chinese interests of the app.
X is launching a vertical video feed for U.S. users
We've been waiting a while to see if X/Twitter would capitalize on TikTok's uncertain future — outside of the rumors swirling around Musk being a potential buyer of the video platform.
Now we know, as X has confirmed "an immersive new home for videos is rolling out to users in the US today." Translation: a vertical video feed you can scroll through easily... Sound familiar?
an immersive new home for videos is rolling out to users in the US todayJanuary 20, 2025
As you can see, it has its own dedicated button on the bottom bar, and has a UI crossover with similarities to TikTok while keeping the same video bar structure as X videos.
TikTok's return may spell financial disaster for any enablers
Donald Trump may have pledged to save TikTok, but that doesn't mean the app's woes are over just yet — regardless of what the in-app messages might say. In fact, per The Verge, those companies still face pretty hefty fines for breaking the law. Because the TikTok ban is, in fact, a matter of law rather than the whims of the man in the White House.
How much you ask? Any company caught allowing access to TikTok faces a penalty of $5,000 per person. Possible offenders include Google and Apple, who have already removed TikTok from their App Stores, as well as service providers like Akamai and Oracle. With an estimated 150 million U.S. users before the ban, we're talking potentially hundreds of billions of dollars worth of fines. Worse still those fines could be pursued up to 5 years after the fact. And who knows who might be President come 2030.
There are ways TikTok could come back from the brink, such as selling to to a U.S. company, but right now the only thing that's changed is one man has decided he actually likes TikTok now.
Wait, is Vine making a comeback?
Kids these days probably don't remember Vine. It was the TikTok of its day, albeit considerably less popular and initially limited videos to 6 seconds. Unfortunately it was ahead of its time and ended up shutting its doors back in 2017.
What people probably forgot is that Vine was officially part of Twitter, and we all know who's in charge over there right now. That's right, Elon Musk is in charge of Twitter right now — or X as it's officially known. Someone actually tagged the man in a post about bringing back Vine, with Musk responding that "we're looking into it".
We’re looking into itJanuary 19, 2025
A lot of people are quite nostalgic for Vine, and Musk does have a history of announcing big plans in random replies. Whether it will actually come to fruition in the way people are expecting is another matter, especially now that X has just launched its own vertical video tab.
My only question is what this newly resurrected Vine might be called. Will they keep the Vine name in place, or will it get re-branded the way Twitter became X? I wouldn't be so upset with it being called "V", if I'm being totally honest.
Even Bluesky is trying to capitalize on TikTok limbo
You can't go very far without running into some kind of TikTok alternative right now. Meta and X have already announced plans for new TikTok alternatives, and even Bluesky is joining the fray. The official Bluesky account has said that it "had to get in on the video action too", and has launched new custom feeds for video content.
The feeds comprise of video-only content, with navigation done with a vertical swiping gesture. According to the social network, you can enter a custom video feed by swiping up on any video, but the app is offering is own trending video feed as well. This is all centered in the Bluesky app, but it's also been confirmed that developers are working on video-only apps that mine content from Bluesky feeds.
They're not available just yet, but if you thought you had a lot of alternative TikTok options already, then you're about to find yourself completely spoiled for choice.
This isn't the first time TikTok has been banned
The U.S. isn't the only country to have banned TikTok, with the Indian government banning the service alongside 50 other Chinese apps back in 2020. Like the U.S. this decision was made due to security concerns, but unlike the U.S. the app remained banned in the country — with no uncertainty about its future.
According to TIME, TikTok could still be accessed via VPNs, which was also the case Stateside. But as number of local competitors rose up in the aftermath of the ban, hoping to fill that TikTok-shaped void in users' lives. Then Instagram and YouTube joined in to great success, raking in billions of Indian views on Shorts and Reels.
Whether that success will translate to American audiences is another matter. Considering there's already been a migration to Rednote, which is only available in Mandarin, rather than an English-language counterpart doesn't bode well. Then again TikTok itself may not be gone for very long...
Rednote's looking to expand its American audience
I found it a little baffling that so-called "TikTok refugees" would head to Rednote, a Chinese-language app that acts like a hybrid of TikTok and Instagram, rather than Instagram or YouTube. But it seems that the company decided to try and capitalize on that sudden popularity in the run-up to the TikTok ban deadline.
Wired claims to have got hold of a campaign brief designed to court U.S. users by partnering with influencers. According to the report, this campaign involved sponsored posts about the Rednote app detailing "how fun and engaging the app is" and "emphasize its user-friendly design and international appeal." Influencers were also asked to share their own Rednote accounts and encourage followers to join the platform with them.
It seems like this campaign came after Rednote's sudden rise in popularity, with influencers being asked to produce videos in a 24 hour period — and post no later than January 17. So while the initial influx of American users probably wasn't deliberate, Rednote clearly saw an opportunity and tried to take full advantage of it. The fact that the app is still on top of the App Store and Google Play charts shows that something's definitely working.
Trump fails to mention TikTok
Speaking during his inaugural address in Washington DC. President Donald Trump promised to sign an executive order to "end all government censorship and bring back free speech to America" following what he calls "years and years of illegal unconstitutional Federal efforts to restrict free expression."
Trump also promised that "never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents". This was left incredibly vague, with no mention of TikTok at the time. While this could apply to TikTok, it's unclear whether Trump was actually referring to the app or if he was referring to other things.
As of right now, TikTok still remains in a limbo state. Trump could still sign an executive order offering the service a lifeline later today, but at the time of writing that hasn't happened.
Reels are getting longer — but not quite as long as TikToks
One of the great benefits of TikTok has been that there's little restriction on how long a video can be. While short videos are the app's forte, it's possible to go much higher. 10-60 minutes, depending on where your video comes from, which is a lot more than the measly 90 second limit imposed on Reels by Instagram.
Thankfully for Reels fans, that limit is increasing to 3 minutes. That's the same as YouTube Shorts, and while still not quite as impressive as what TikTok had to offer it is definitely better than nothing.
This news was confirmed by Instagram boss Adam Mosseri late last week. Mosseri credits user feedback for the change, specifically those who complained that 90 seconds "is just too short". This comes just a few months after Mosseri said that Instagram wouldn't be pursuing long form videos because that would affect the platforms "core identity to connect people with friends".
Instagram has tested 10 minute Reels in the past, but for now it seems as though this longer limit isn't happening.
No, there's no grand Facebook/TikTok conspiracy
TikTok is back in the U.S., kind of, but that brief 14-hour outage is already causing some people to adjust their tin foil hats and come up with wacky ideas of what's going on. Like the people that have decided Meta secretly bought TikTok, and the outage was designed to hide the fact TikTok was being moved onto Meta-owned servers.
Why do they think this? Because apparently Facebook created a TikTok account right before the app shut down its U.S. operations. Even though that isn't actually what happened. Dexerto and Snopes both note that Facebook's TikTok profile has been there since at least October 8 2021 — which you can see for yourself thanks to the Wayback Machine.
Facebook doesn't actually have any TikTok content, only a link to the official Android app on Google Play. And yet somehow it still has almost 424 thousand followers. If it suddenly starts posting in the coming days, maybe that's when you should start coming up with conspiracy theories.
VPN searches spiked in the wake of TikTok going dark
First TikTok went dark, then it came back in defiance of the ban but may not be working quite as it should. It's all a little bit confusing, and apparently some TikTok users are sick of the dram associated with accessing their favorite app. Considering the ban is only affecting the U.S., there's been quite the spike in VPN popularity over the weekend.
According to the data search results for "VPN" rose significantly on January 18 and into the following day — tying in with the brief window when TikTok was officially offline. Unsurprisingly demand seemed to taper off on Sunday, before dropping back to near-normal levels. Presumably that's down to Donald Trump promising to restore TikTok, and the app taking the now-President at his word.
Be sure to check out our full report for more in depth detail about that sudden rise in VPN popularity.
