Vertical videos that once came natively from a sleek smartphone app have been replaced by a link to a websiteand the trendy pieces that made them up have been silenced.
TikTok has officially gone dark in the United States, at least for now.
A message on the app for U.S. users says TikTok is unavailable at the moment, but ends with an upbeat note that puts the ball in President-elect Donald Trump’s court: “We’re lucky that the President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!
ByteDance’s first Hail Mary to prevent the ban of its social media app TikTok fell incomplete on the steps of the Supreme Court with Friday’s unanimous decision confirming the Protecting Americans from Apps Controlled by Foreign Adversaries Actwhich required TikTok to sell to a US company by January 19 or face a ban in the country.
Three agency executives told ADWEEK earlier this week that the platform automatically suspend advertising campaigns in the United States starting Sunday.
Shuree Jones, group director of paid social and influencer media at Rain the Growth Agency, told ADWEEK that historical data, campaign performance reports and creative assets will remain accessible and advertisers will be able to manually restart campaigns without losing data if the ban is overturned. postponed.
TikTok assured advertisers that all reserved inventory would be refunded.
The fight is far from over for TikTok, which has found an unlikely ally in the president-elect Donald Trump.
Despite call for ban on TikTok in 2020, during his first term, Trump is would have consider an executive order that would suspend the ban for 60 to 90 days to allow time to negotiate a sale of the app, or another alternative.
Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) revealed his intention to introduce the Extend TikTok Deadline Lawwhich would give ByteDance an additional 270 days to find a buyer.
“Even though a sale is unlikely, US-owned TikTok would mark a new era for the hugely popular app,” said Minda Smiley, senior analyst at Emarketer. “For starters, it’s unclear whether TikTok’s bread and butter – its algorithm – would be part of a sale. Algorithm issues aside, TikTok would likely operate differently under the new owners. Users, creators, and brands might leave the app if they feel like it’s not what it used to be.
