TikTok was removed from US app stores due to national security concerns but is now reinstated.
President Donald Trump ordered a 75-day delay in enforcing the ban while negotiations continue.
ByteDance is exploring partnerships with US companies to comply with regulations and avoid another ban.
One month later, TikTok returned to the US Google Play Store and Apple App Store. For those who are unaware, a federal ban over privacy and security issues led to the removal of the social media app from the App Store and Play Store. According to Bloomberg, the short-video platform was reinstated after US Attorney General Pam Bondi assured Apple in a letter that it would not be penalized for hosting the app.
Due to national security concerns, Apple and Google complied with a law last month that prohibited TikTok from operating in the US. As a result, the app was removed, making it impossible for users to download the platform.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order on January 20th, directing the Department of Justice to postpone the implementation of the ban for the next seventy-five days. Interestingly, the application has over 170 million active users in the US. Due to concerns about incurring hefty fines, the app marketplaces initially declined to list the application on their stores, even after the order was passed.
In order to allow TikTok to continue operating in the market after 75 days, the report also claims that Trump has designated Vice President JD Vance to supervise the agreement between the platform and a US-based company. However, because of the ongoing negotiations and ongoing regulatory scrutiny, the company’s future is still uncertain.
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As per the reports, ByteDance is exploring partnership with the local businesses to comply with laws and can operate in the market in the future but unable to find concrete grounds yet. And if the platform will not be able to do so, it may lead to a ban again.
Interestingly, India has also banned TikTok over the same privacy and national security concerns.
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Ashish Singh
Ashish Singh is the Chief Copy Editor at Digit. Previously, he worked as a Senior Sub-Editor with Jagran English from 2022, and has been a journalist since 2020, with experience at Times Internet. Ashish specializes in Technology. In his free time, you can find him exploring new gadgets, gaming, and discovering new places. View Full Profile
