WASHINGTON — Even as the popular video sharing app TikTok came back online Sunday in the United States, new users were unable to download it from Apple’s App Store and Google Play.
Sunday is the deadline for the ban to take effect if the Chinese-based company Byte Dance, owner of TikTok, failed to sell to a U.S. owner. Congress overwhelmingly passed the ban because of concerns that China would use the app to spy on Americans and manipulate public opinion in the U.S.
TikTok went dark for users early Sunday, but was back up and running later in the day.
The U.S. Supreme Court earlier this week directed Apple and Google to remove the service from app stores. It also required web-hosting firms, including TikTok’s back-end cloud provider, Oracle, to stop supporting the app or face penalties that could reach into the billions of dollars.
