‘Not ready’: Netizens bid farewell to TikTok as Apple, Google remove it from their US app stores

Late Saturday evening (January 18), TikTok disappeared from Apple and Google app stores, just as a federal ban on the popular platform took effect. By 10:50 PM EST, users found the app unavailable, in a significant blow to its China-based parent company ByteDance.

The ban stems from a law signed by President Joe Biden last year, mandating ByteDance to divest its stake in TikTok’s US operations within nine months or face prohibition. Despite legal challenges reaching the Supreme Court, ByteDance ultimately lost its bid to overturn the ruling.