TikTok goes offline in the US hours before the ban comes into effect

TikTok has gone offline in the US, just hours before a new law banning the platform takes effect.

A message on the app for US users said that a law had been implemented banning TikTok, meaning “you cannot use TikTok at this time.”

“We are happy that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to restore TikTok when he takes office,” it read.

It comes after the social media platform warned it would “go dark” on Sunday unless the outgoing Biden administration ensured the ban would not be enforced.

President-elect Donald Trump previously said he would “probably” give TikTok a 90-day delay from the ban when he takes office on Monday.

Users reported that the app was also removed from Apple and Google’s US app stores and TikTok.com was not showing any videos.

Lawmakers voted to ban the app last year over concerns about its ties to the Chinese government. TikTok has repeatedly stated that it does not share information with Beijing.

The law, passed in April last year, required TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance to sell the US version of the platform to a neutral party by January 19 to avoid an outright ban, which it has failed to do.

TikTok challenged the law, arguing that it violates free speech protections for the country’s 170 million users.

In the previous hours goes offline to the social media platformcontent creators were posting videos to say goodbye to their followers.

Founder Nicole Bloomgarden told the BBC that not being on TikTok would mean a huge pay cut.

Another user, Erika Thompson, said that the platform’s educational content would be the “biggest loss” to the community.