Apple, Google restore TikTok app after assurances from Trump

UNITED STATES: Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google are restoring ByteDance Limited’s TikTok to their app stores on Thursday following assurances in a letter from US Attorney General of Pam Bondi that a ban wouldn’t immediately be enforced.

The two companies had removed TikTok in the US last month to comply with a law passed in 2024. In a January 20 executive order, Trump said, he instructed the attorney general “not to take any action to enforce the act for a period of 75 days from today to allow my administration an opportunity to determine the appropriate course forward.”

By Thursday evening, the software had returned to the Apple App Store and Google Play store, reported Bloomberg.

The move follows weeks of uncertainty about TikTok’s future, and there’s still no guarantee that it will survive in the US in the long-run. The video app briefly went dark last month to comply with a federal ban, only for it to return after Trump vowed to halt enforcement of the law. But Apple and Google didn’t immediately restore the software to their app stores.

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US lawmakers passed the ban over concerns about TikTok’s Chinese ownership, fearing that the popular app could be used to spy on American citizens. China requires its companies to share data with the government upon request.

A representative for TikTok declined to comment.

The federal legislation, called Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Application Act, was supported by both Democrats and Republicans in Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden last April. The law required a countrywide ban on TikTok unless ByteDance undertook a “qualified divestiture” by January 19. That meant the US portion of the business had to be sold.

Trump previously supported a ban but has changed his position. “I guess I have a warm spot for TikTok that I didn’t have originally,” he said when signing the executive order.

If he doesn’t negotiate a deal aby early April to address the national security concerns around TikTok’s current ownership, the app could be shut down once again. ByteDance has maintained that TikTok is not for sale.