• TikTok says it is "restoring service" in the United States.
• The company had turned off its app for its 170 million US users on Saturday.
• President-elect Donald Trump said he will issue an executive order on Monday to delay a TikTok ban.

TikTok said on Sunday it is "restoring service" after shutting down its app in the United States to comply with a divest-or-ban law.

The app began coming back online for US users first through web browsers and later on the mobile app.

The company told advertising partners on Sunday that it would soon become available for the majority of US users, but they should expect "some temporary service instability," according to a memo obtained by Business Insider.

"In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service," TikTok wrote in a statement to BI. "We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive."

President-elect Donald Trump said on social media on Sunday morning he would issue an executive order to extend the time before "the law's prohibitions take effect," adding that "there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark" before the order.

The company said it will work with President Trump on a "long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States."

A message appearing on TikTok on Sunday after the app came back online said that TikTok is back "as a result of President Trump's efforts."

TikTok switched off its app for its 170 million US users on Saturday, shortly before a legally imposed deadline for owner ByteDance to sell the US version of the app or effectively cease operating in the country. Apple and Google have both removed TikTok from their stores.

The TikTok shutdown followed a drawn-out legal battle over the ban-or-divest law, which was passed by Congress last year. The law required TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app's US operations by January 19 or be banned.

As the deadline neared, a message on the app popped up at around 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday: "Sorry, TikTok isn't available right now."

"A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US. 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. Please stay tuned!"

• The Supreme Court ruled against TikTok on its challenge against a divest-or-ban law.
• TikTok's owner, ByteDance, has until January 19 to divest from its US app or face a shutdown.
• President-elect Donald Trump may still try to rescue TikTok once in office.

The Supreme Court decided not to rescue TikTok from a divest-or-ban law.

The justices said on Friday in a unanimous decision that the law did not violate the First Amendment rights of TikTok and its creators. The law requires ByteDance to divest from TikTok in the US by January 19 or effectively stop operating in the country.

As a result, TikTok is likely to "go dark" in the US on Sunday as app stores and other business partners sever ties with the company to comply with the law.

However, the Biden administration said on Friday that it would leave it to President-elect Donald Trump to implement the law after he takes office on Monday "given the sheer fact of timing."

TikTok may also shut down the app on its own accord in the US on Sunday, The Information and Reuters reported earlier this week.

On Tuesday, the company assured US TikTok employees that they would still have jobs even if the app were banned.

The Supreme Court's decision was largely expected. Legal analysts told Business Insider last week that the court would likely rule against TikTok in deference to Congress' authority over national-security concerns.

There is no doubt that TikTok "offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression," the court wrote in its decision, "but Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok's data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary."

Addressing concerns by a group of TikTok users who petitioned to save the app, the court said the law did not regulate creators' free speech but rather focused on a foreign adversary's control of the app.

The law imposes "TikTok-specific prohibitions due to a foreign adversary's control over the platform," the court wrote." It does not "target particular speech based upon its content" or "regulate speech based on its function or purpose."

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.

TikTok's appeal arrived in the Supreme Court after it lost its legal challenge to the divest-or-ban law in the DC Circuit in December.

TikTok was a primary target of The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which passed in April and sought to curb the influence of social platforms with foreign-adversary owners.

Having worn out its legal options, TikTok may be banking on a different path to survival: the return of President-elect Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated on Monday. TikTok's CEO Shou Chew plans to attend the inauguration alongside other tech CEOs.

Trump pledged to try to save TikTok once in office, saying during a December 16 press conference that he had "a warm spot in my heart for TikTok." On December 27, he filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court, asking for a stay on TikTok's divestment deadline so he could work out a political resolution.

"President Trump opposes banning TikTok in the United States at this juncture, and seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office," the brief said.

Trump wrote on Truth Social before the court ruling on Friday that he had recently spoken with China's leader, Xi Jinping, about several topics, including TikTok.

"My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation," he wrote in a post after the court ruling.

If TikTok shuts down, the effects could be felt across several industries, including the creator economy, e-commerce, book publishing, and more.

Some sellers on TikTok Shop, the app's e-commerce arm, previously told BI that a TikTok shutdown could be a major blow to their businesses and the broader live shopping market.

TikTok may not be the only app under threat either.

ByteDance owns several other apps, such as the video-editing tool CapCut and Pinterest-like app Lemon8, that are also subject to the divest-or-ban law.

• On Friday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the TikTok divest-or-ban law.
• TikTok asked the court to pause its divestment deadline, set for January 19.
• Legal experts expect the Supreme Court to uphold the law despite pressing the government on its case.

TikTok is fighting for its life as it faces a US ban set to arrive in a little over a week. On Friday, it argued its case before the Supreme Court.

The justices peppered attorneys on both sides with questions about a law that compels TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, to divest from the US version of TikTok by January 19 or be forced to shut the app down.

Legal experts told Business Insider that TikTok's prospects remain dim.

Matthew Schettenhelm, a litigation and policy analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said he thinks TikTok's chances of a Supreme Court rescue look slimmer after Friday's hearing.

"I expect the court to deny the stay, probably soon, and also uphold the law," he told BI.

Alan Rozenshtein, a former Justice Department official and current University of Minnesota law professor, said the government "got hard questions in a way that it did not at the DC Circuit," but that doesn't mean TikTok will get a better outcome.

"I don't think that's going to be enough," Rozenshtein told BI. "I still think the most likely outcome is the law will be upheld."

He gave an 80% chance that the Supreme Court would uphold the law.

What TikTok and the government argued in court

Many of the back-and-forths in the Supreme Court hearing centered on whether a TikTok divestment was the only path to solving Congress' national security concerns and if the law violated the free-speech rights of TikTok and its users. TikTok's attorney asked why the company had been singled out in the law and why e-commerce platforms like Shein and Temu were granted exemptions.

TikTok is asking the justices to reverse a December DC Circuit decision upholding the divest-or-ban law. TikTok is also asking for a pause on its divestment deadline to give the court more time to consider its case (and give TikTok more time to potentially negotiate a political resolution).

TikTok doesn't appear to think divestment is a feasible option. During oral arguments on Friday, TikTok's lawyer, Noel Francisco, said it would be "extraordinarily difficult" to divest its US platform from the rest of TikTok globally over any timeline.

TikTok may be hoping for a solution that does not involve a sale, possibly brokered by President-elect Donald Trump, who has said he opposes a ban.

What happens next

After January 19, TikTok said it would "go dark" without court intervention as it would be pulled from app stores. Its service providers would also stop working with the company.

"It's essentially going to stop operating. I think that's the consequence of this law, which is why I think a short reprieve here would make all the sense in the world," Francisco, the TikTok lawyer, said.

Why is TikTok facing a ban?

TikTok was included in the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, passed in April. The act sought to limit the influence of social apps with ties to countries the US deemed foreign adversaries to guard national security interests. ByteDance is headquartered in China, which the US government has called a foreign adversary.

While members of both parties in Congress have raised alarm bells about TikTok, support for a ban among the American public has declined. Support for a government ban fell from 50% in March 2023 to 32% in July and August among US adults who responded to Pew Research Center surveys.

Donald Trump may try to save TikTok as president, as he pledged to do during his campaign run. On December 27, Trump filed an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to pause the deadline for a TikTok divestment so he could try to negotiate a political resolution once in office.