TikTok App Remains Unavailable on Apple and Google Stores in the US Despite Trump’s Ban Delay – One America News Network
By Reuters
January 21, 2025 – 8:42 AM PST
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(Reuters) – TikTok remains inaccessible on the Apple and Google app stores in the U.S. as of Tuesday, following President Donald Trump’s executive order on Monday to postpone the enforcement of a ban on the widely-used Chinese-owned short-video platform for 75 days.
This order was issued amidst escalating uncertainties regarding the app’s future, which went offline on Saturday just before a law citing national security mandated that Chinese parent company ByteDance sell TikTok or face a U.S. ban on Sunday.
Despite TikTok resuming operations after Trump’s reassurances that the company and its partners would not incur severe penalties for continuing service, it has yet to be restored in the app stores.
Analysts speculate that the delay may stem from Google and Apple awaiting further protections before circumventing the ban that penalizes them for hosting or distributing the app.
Apple’s App Store noted, “TikTok and other ByteDance apps are not available in the country or region you’re in,” while Google Play indicated, “Downloads for this app are paused due to current U.S. legal requirements.”
Requests for comments from Google, Apple, and TikTok went unanswered.
In a related note, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin shared with CNBC that he has paused his proposal for acquiring TikTok due to China’s unwillingness to negotiate, but he expressed keen interest in investing.
“The plan would involve transferring all technology to ensure it no longer has ties to ByteDance moving forward,” Mnuchin explained.
Mnuchin praised TikTok as a “terrific business,” adding that he and his partners intended to revamp its technology.
Bill Ford, CEO of General Atlantic, a TikTok investor, also told CNBC that there are alternative methods for altering TikTok’s U.S. ownership that do not necessarily require its sale, noting that the app’s parent company is already 60% owned by non-Chinese investors.
Neither Mnuchin nor Ford immediately responded to Reuters’ requests for comment.
ByteDance is predominantly owned (nearly 60%) by institutional investors, including BlackRock and General Atlantic, while its founders and employees hold 20% each.
Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Maju Samuel
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