The latest: TikTok ad campaigns resume in U.S. as app comes back online
President-elect Donald Trump asked technology companies to “not let TikTok stay dark” and announced he would extend a deadline to sell the company after the video platform suspended its services in the U.S. and Apple Inc. and Google removed the platform from their app stores.
“I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security,” Trump said in a social media post. “The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order.”
Trump, who will be sworn in at noon Monday, said he would seek a joint venture under which new, U.S.-based owners would purchase 50% of the company and “keep it in good hands and allow it to stay up.”
“Without U.S. approval, there is no Tik Tok,” Trump continued. “With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars—maybe trillions.”
Also read: Ad industry reacts to TikTok Supreme Court ruling
The law banning the app, which passed with bipartisan support in Congress, requires tech companies that host or distribute TikTok in the U.S.—such as Apple, Google and Oracle Corp.—to stop doing so on Jan. 19. TikTok’s legal challenges failed to head off the measure, which was passed last year to address national security concerns.
“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S.,” TikTok said in a notification on the platform to users late Saturday. “Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now.”
TikTok for Business, the group within the app that communicates with brands about the ads platform, sent a newsletter to advertisers that described the stoppage as temporary, according to one digital ad agency leader, who shared the note with Ad Age. “Access to the app will be temporarily unavailable and ad campaigns targeting the U.S. will be paused until the service is restored,” the newsletter stated, adding “let me reassure you that we are working around the clock to ensure TikTok will continue.”
The note also recapped whether advertisers could still use some functions within TikTok Ad Manager, the platform through which they plan ad buys. TikTok told advertisers they could still tinker with campaigns, even if they weren’t going live while the app is down, and marketers could access “critical data” in the ad platform,” the newsletter stated.