ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, is required to sell the app to a U.S.-based buyer or face a nationwide ban.

The app’s availability in the U.S. has been thrown into jeopardy over data privacy and national security concerns.

The company turned off its app for its 170 million US users on Saturday. Users are flocking to other corners of the internet to react.

SAN FRANCISCO — When Ames Doyle began using TikTok in 2022, they were living a drastically different life. Doyle, now 35, had a child with their husband, identified as a woman, dependably voted Democrat and assumed they were neurotypical. Then they started scrolling.

At the moment, there are "no plans" for a TikTok ban in the UK, a government spokesperson said on Saturday. "We engage with all major social media companies to understand their plans for ensuring the security of UK data and to ensure they meet the high data protection and cyber security standards we expect."

If it feels like TikTok has been around forever, that’s probably because it has, at least if you’re measuring via internet time.

The ban-or-divest law, which goes into effect on Sunday, effectively bans TikTok unless ByteDance sells much of its stake in the company. But ByteDance has shown little sign of being willing to sell, even as the deadline rapidly approached. Instead, TikTok sued the US over the law, ultimately losing in a Supreme Court case this past week.

President-elect Donald Trump would not rule out continued Chinese ownership of TikTok if steps were taken to ensure that American users' data was protected and stored in the U.S., incoming National Security Adviser Mike Waltz told CNN on Sunday.

TikTok has gone offline in the US, hours before a new law banning the platform was due to come into effect. A message appearing on the app for US users said a law banning TikTok had been enacted, meaning "you can't use TikTok for now".

NBC News reports that TikTok has boosted advertisements for Lemon8, an application also owned by ByteDance, in recent days. Rival social-media apps and websites such as Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat are expected to increase their user base in the wake of a possible ban.