Less than 12 hours after TikTok went dark in the United States, the video-sharing app is back online. “In agreement with service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service,” the company said in a statement. “We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to service providers that they will not face penalties that provide TikTok to more than 170 million Americans and allow more than 7 million small businesses to thrive.” A law that would force TikTok’s parent company ByteDance to sell the app or see it banned in the United States is scheduled to take effect today. The law also makes it illegal for US companies to support app distribution, maintenance, or updates. With President-elect Donald Trump about to take office, officials from President Joe Biden’s White House and the Justice Department have said they will apply the law to the Trump administration, but TikTok has said “critical service providers” need a “definitive statement,” otherwise the app will went dark – and indeed, the app stopped working overnight and disappeared from the Apple and Google Play app stores. However, earlier today, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he will issue an executive order that will suspend the ban, and that the order will “confirm that there will be no liability for the company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order.” That seems to be enough assurance for TikTok and the service provider that the TikTok app is working again for some TechCrunch writers when the company issued a statement shortly after 12:30 PM ET today involved in a “joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners in which the US acquires 50% ownership. In its statement, TikTok said it “will work with President Trump on long-term solutions that keep TikTok in the United States.” This story develops…
