TikTok has gone dark across the US – affecting 170 million American users – after the Supreme Court ruled against its bid to avoid a ban that has shut the app down.

The ban is the end result of 2024 legislation passed on national security concerns that called for TikTok parent ByteDance to sell the popular short-video app or see it shut in the US on 19 January.

Donald Trump, who takes office on Monday, has said he would try to find a “political resolution”.

Speaking to NBC News‘ Meet The Press moderator Kristen Welker on Saturday, the president-elect said he was considering giving TikTok more time to find a buyer.

Mr Trump told Sky’s US partner network in a phone interview: “I think that would be, certainly, an option that we look at.

“The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it’s appropriate. You know, it’s appropriate. We have to look at it carefully. It’s a very big situation.

“If I decide to do that, I’ll probably announce it on Monday.”

The federal 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.

Below are the answers to some key questions:

What has happened to the app?

TikTok’s app has been removed from prominent app stores in the US so can’t be downloaded.

When existing users opened the TikTok app on Saturday evening, they encountered a pop-up message from the company that prevented them from scrolling on videos.

“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US,” the message said. “Unfortunately that means you can’t use TikTok for now.”

“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 message said.

“Please stay tuned!”

Some of the so-called “TikTok refugees” have been turning to a Chinese app called Xiaohongshu – aka RedNote.

It is a lifestyle social media app which allows users to post short videos, photos and texts, and it also includes functions like live-streaming and shopping.

Read more:
What is RedNote?

How are users affected?

It was thought that TikTok’s estimated 170 million users in the US would still be able to use the app because it was already downloaded on their phones – but that is not the case.

A web-based version of the service might be accessible that has fewer features than the app, but even that might not work, experts have said.

Some users could try to access TikTok through virtual private networks, or VPNs, which can conceal the internet protocol, or IP, address of a user and thereby their location.

Content creators who have built businesses from their TikTok followings have been preparing for the app’s shutdown and were redirecting their followers to alternatives such as Instagram and YouTube.

What do the content creators say?

Tiffany Cianci told the Associated Press the ban shows “our elected officials failed the American people in failing to learn what TikTok actually meant to the American population”.

“In reality, it’s an ecosystem that has created a huge portion of the American economy.

“It’s created a place where seven million small businesses thrive in ways that they’re not able to thrive in any other economic social media system in the United States.”

Influencer and creator Janette Ok said the platform helped her make brand deals and promote her music – bringing “opportunities that I never believed I could experience in my lifetime”.

“It’s a beautiful app, it’s brought so many people together, it’s changed a lot of people’s lives, and for it to just be taken away like that feels… so not American,” she said.

What will advertisers do?

Advertisers have rushed to prepare contingency plans as the ban jeopardises their campaigns on the platforms.

TikTok has continued to pitch advertisers on new features, like a tool launching in test form that would make it easier to create, modify and add advertisements in bulk.

The ban means more than $11bn in annual US ad investment is up for grabs.

The ban could worsen trade tensions between the US and China that were already strained after export curbs on advanced American semiconductor technology to Beijing.

Mr Trump could try to use an executive action to protect TikTok for his four years in office, but he could use the risk of him changing his position to extract something meaningful from China, according to analysts at LightShed Partners.

What impact could the ban have on UK users?

There is no suggestion that the US ban would directly affect users in the UK, where technology is regulated by British legislation. However, UK TikTokers, who create content on social media for a living, have expressed fears over how the ban might impact their viewership and incomes.

Aidan Halling, also known by his handle @etherealgames on TikTok, creates comedy skits on gaming for his 30,000 followers, and is concerned his income may take a hit as the ban could force him to ditch the app.

“A lot of creators rely on this app for a living, and it’s about to be pulled away from under them,” he told PA news.

“This ban could potentially force me to pivot to different content or stop posting all together. While 15% of my followers are American, around 40% of initial video views are from the US.”

TikTok users in the US are opening the app to find a message saying they “can’t use” the social media platform “for now” due to a law enacted in Washington.

A ban on the app was due to take effect today after outgoing President Joe Biden signed a law last year requiring ByteDance, TikTok’s China-based parent company, to divest TikTok on national security grounds or face a ban in one of its biggest markets.

The app was no longer appearing on either Apple or Google’s app stores.

“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US. Unfortunately that means you can’t use TikTok for now,” the message in the app being used by US users reads.

“We are fortunate that President [Donald] Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!”

It comes after Mr Trump, who will be inaugurated as the 47th president in Washington DC tomorrow, said TikTok would “most likely” be handed a 90-day reprieve from the ban.

While President Biden said he did not intend to enforce the legislation, ByteDance said the app “will be forced to go dark” today after a Supreme Court ruling unanimously upheld the ban.

Speaking to NBC News‘ Meet The Press moderator Kristen Welker yesterday, however, the president-elect said he was considering giving TikTok more time to find a buyer.

Read more:
Time’s up for TikTok in US
What is RedNote – the social media app TikTok users are ‘migrating’ to

Mr Trump told Sky’s US partner network in a phone interview: “I think that would be, certainly, an option that we look at.

“The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it’s appropriate. You know, it’s appropriate. We have to look at it carefully. It’s a very big situation.

“If I decide to do that, I’ll probably announce it on Monday.”

Disgruntled TikTok users flocked to other social media platforms, such as X, to express their disappointment at the app not working anymore, saying for business purposes, other apps couldn’t compare.

“Twitter isn’t the same as TikTok,” one user said. “Plus here I can have a hundred views (to a business that’s nothing) but on TikTok we get millions of views and can make some serious money. It’s not even in the same ballpark.”

Another echoed that sentiment as they noted how “TikTok has literally built careers, made artists go viral”.

Their X post read: “The fact that TikTok is getting banned absolutely blows my mind.

“So many business have thrived from the app and now they have to adapt on other social media platforms that might not even perform as well.”

There have been signs TikTok could make a comeback under Mr Trump, who has previously said he wants to pursue a “political resolution” of the issue and last month urged the Supreme Court to pause implementation of the ban.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew plans to attend the US presidential inauguration and attend a rally with Mr Trump today, a source told Reuters.

Thousands of people are set to march from three separate points around Washington DC on Saturday ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday.

The rally, going by the People’s March, is a rebrand of the 2017 Women’s March, which saw more than 500,000 marchers take to the streets of DC at the start of Mr Trump’s first reign, as millions more participated in local marches around the country.

The marches are being led by several national activists groups, and mark the start of what the incoming president called “the most important weekend, plus, in American history” on his Truth Social platform.

But the march this year is tipped to be around one 10th of the size of the first one after Democrat Kamala Harris’s resounding loss to the Republicans, with organisers saying it has been a struggle to conjure up the same passion as in 2017.

“The reality is that it’s just hard to capture lightning in a bottle,” said Tamika Middleton, managing director at the Women’s March.

“It was a really particular moment. In 2017, we had not seen a Trump presidency and the kind of vitriol that that represented.”

Ms Middleton says the march, which rebranded to be more inclusive, is not specifically aimed at Mr Trump this time around, but rather on a broader set of issues, such as women’s and reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, immigration, climate and democracy.

“We’re not thinking about the march as the endgame,” she said.

“[We’re thinking] how do we get those folks who show up into organisations and into their political homes so they can keep fighting in their communities long term?”

Read more:
A guide to everything that will happen at Trump’s inauguration
Biden will not enforce TikTok ban – leaving decision to Trump

Meanwhile, Mr Trump is kicking off his inauguration weekend festivities at Trump National Sterling, outside of DC, according to Sky News’ US partner NBC News.

The day’s events will include a reception for the president-elect and fireworks, according to Trump’s inaugural committee’s events schedule.

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The committee also announced it will hold a Cabinet reception and vice president-elect dinner on Saturday.

While the marches look different to 2017, so too will Mr Trump’s swearing-in ceremony on Monday, which is set to take place inside the US Capitol Rotunda building rather than outdoors due to cold weather.

It means the roughly 250,000 people who had tickets to watch the inauguration from around the Capitol grounds will no longer be able to do so.

Thousands more were expected to be in general admission areas or to line the route from the Capitol Building to the White House.

Mr Trump said the Capital One Arena in Washington will open for a live viewing of his swearing-in ceremony and to host the Presidential Parade.

Mr Trump has said he will join the crowd at Capital One after the swearing-in, which will be the first to take place indoors in 40 years.