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By Shannon Power
Pop Culture & Entertainment Reporter
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Celebrites and influencers alike joked about TikTok's short-lived outage after President-elect Donald Trump vowed to bring it back.
From make-up influencer James Charles, to tech mogul Elon Musk, famous people had a lot to say about the hugely popular app's return.
Why It Matters
TikTok has around 170 million users in the U.S., but it became unavailable on major app stores in the U.S. as federal legislation mandating the video platform's ban came into effect.
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Many influencers had lamented the legislation that sought to ban TikTok if its parent company, Byte Dance, did not find non-Chinese owners to buy a majority stake in the platform.
Federal lawmakers cited national security concerns as a reason for the move.
What to Know
ByteDance had until Sunday, January 19 to cut ties with its Chinese owners, which was the deadline for the ban.
As users reported the app going dark, Trump swooped in to save the day by vowing to put a pause on the ban.
While TikTok remained unavailable for some time after Trump's announcement, those attempting to use it in the U.S. were greeted with the following message.
"A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can't use TikTok for now," it read. "We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!"
What People Are Saying
Alix Earle, who posts "Get Ready With Me" confessional videos, was among the first to put out a video as TikTok slowly returned to use.
"You're telling me that I just spend the last two days crying on here, and now the app is back?" she said to her 7.2 million followers. "All I'm going to say is, thank god I didn't post the last thing I had in the drafts."
Makeup artist and influencer James Charles, who has 40.5 million followers, begrudgingly gave credit to Trump for temporarily overturning the ban.
"Now I'm rooting for Trump? Ewww... Make America f****** Great Again, I guess," he said in a video posted to Instagram.
Charles added that he felt "pathetic" for "freaking out over an app like this," but also described seeing the TikTok message about Trump's decision to pause the ban as "dystopian."
He explained his extreme reaction by saying TikTok "was a massive part of our lives for the last six years."
"Normally, when something happens, I would get on TikTok and start complaining, and I can't do that. I feel disconnected. I feel cut off from the world and my community," Charles added. "This is crazy."
Comedian and actress Rosie O'Donnell also reacted in surprise when she opened the app on Sunday evening, only to find it operational once more.
"Okay everybody, [TikTok] is back. Why is it back?" she said to her family who were in the room as she recorded the video. "They banned it. Literally, it was banned and it's already back and it's not going away."
"Are they trying to make us go crazy? Was it a prank? I don't know. Did Joe Biden do something on his last minute of his last day? Oh, this is exciting," O'Donnell said in the video posted on Sunday night.
Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO and owner of social media platform X, said it was unfair his platform was banned in China.
"I have been against a TikTok ban for a long time, because it goes against freedom of speech," he wrote.
"That said, the current situation where TikTok is allowed to operate in America, but 𝕏 is not allowed to operate in China is unbalanced. Something needs to change."
What's Next
Trump is being inaugurated on Monday in Washington, D.C., to begin his second term in office. The world will be watching to see what his plans are for TikTok.
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