TikTok ban comes into effect in US, users can no longer access video-sharing app

TikTok went offline in the US, after a new law banning it came into force on Sunday. Several screenshots of the app, which has over 170 million users in the US, shared on social media showed a message on the short-video platform stating that a law banning TikTok had been enacted, with the message, "Sorry, TikTok isn't available right now". The app gives the option to users either to close the app or click another option that led them to the platform's website, from where they could download their data, which TikTok earlier said may take days to process, The Associated Press reported. Earlier, the company had said in another message to users that its service would be “temporarily unavailable” and told them that its working to restore its US service “as soon as possible.” Notably, on Saturday, the Supreme Court upheld a law banning TikTok in the US on grounds of national security if its Chinese parent company ByteDance does not sell it, putting the popular short-video app on track to go dark in just two days. Under the law passed by Congress and signed by US President Joe Biden last year, TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance had nine months to sell the platform’s US operation to an approved buyer.