Investing.com– TikTok began restoring U.S. services on Sunday just hours after being shut down by a Supreme Court-backed ban, as President-elect Donald Trump promised to give the social media company more time to find a U.S. buyer.
Users were initially unable to access TikTok on Sunday as the app complied with a Supreme Court ruling that upheld a ban approved by Congress.
But users who tried to log in later in the day were able to access the app, with a message thanking them and Trump for their support. However, the app remained unavailable in Apple’s (NASDAQ: ) and Google’s app stores.
Trump has promised to issue an executive order when he takes office on Monday that will give TikTok more time to find a US buyer while keeping the app online. Trump has called for a joint venture that would keep at least 50% of TikTok’s ownership in American hands.
Congress voted to ban TikTok over concerns that its parent company, ByteDance, was collecting user data and potentially threatening national security.
Recent reports say that Tesla (NASDAQ: ) CEO and Trump confidant Elon Musk could be a potential candidate for the social media platform, while Morgan Stanley (NYSE: ) speculated that Amazon (NASDAQ: ) might also buy the app.
Other reports indicated that a group of entrepreneurs led by Jesse Tinsley, potentially including social media star Mr. Beast, submitted a bid for the application.
Banning TikTok would benefit American competitors
Analysts say the US ban on TikTok is likely to benefit other social media platforms in the country.
Deutsche Bank (ETR:) said in a note last week that rivals such as Snap Inc (NYSE:), META (NASDAQ:), Google and Reddit Inc (NYSE: ) could have benefited greatly from users abandoning TikTok and switching to other platforms that offer similar services.
TikTok’s short video format was a major disruption in the social media space, prompting competitors like Instagram and YouTube to offer similar formats on their platforms.
Analysts were largely skeptical about whether TikTok would be banned, given that public opinion was largely against such a move. Outgoing President Joe Biden has also largely changed his stance on the ban.
