“Damn TikTok” trends on X as users express disbelief over early social media platform shutdown in the US

TikTok stopped being accessible to users in the United States on Saturday, January 19, just before a federal ban on the Chinese-owned short-video app was set to go into effect. According to an NBC News report from the same day, the app displayed a notice when users opened the app on Saturday night.

The message read:

“Sorry, [It] isn’t available right now.”

It further continued further,

“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use [the app] for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate [the app] once he takes office. Please stay tuned!”

Following the implementation of the app restriction, the users of the short-video app flocked to X to voice their dissatisfaction with everything. The phrase "Damn TikTok" started trending on the platform shortly after that.

According to one user, the app shut down before midnight of the stipulated day, prompting surprise and outrage from users of the app.

“Damn TikTok is completely shut down. They ain’t even give us til midnight,” wrote a user.

“DAMN NOT EVEN 12AM...?!” wrote another user.

“Damn TikTok aint even give us till 12,” commented a netizen.

“They couldn’t even give us till midnight DAMN...,” wrote another netizen.

Other X users also expressed similar sentiments, bidding farewell and saying it was a "good run."

“Damn TikTok I guess this is it,” wrote a user.

“Damn Tiktok, you f*cked the city up wit this one,” said another X user.

“Damn tiktok.. It was a good run,” commented a netizen.

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TikTok has already been banned in USA

Following the banning of the app, the message asked users to either "learn more" or exit the app. There was also an extra line on the landing page of the website telling consumers that they could still log in and get their data.

Additionally, both Google's Play Store and Apple's iOS software Store no longer carried the app. This happened after the US Congress approved a law in April 2024 requiring ByteDance to either sell the app to a non-Chinese owner or shut it down completely.

Early on Saturday, Apple said on its website that ByteDance and its apps were no longer accessible in the United States. The message read:

“Apple is obligated to follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates. Pursuant to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act... will no longer be available for download or updates on the App Store for users in the United States starting January 19, 2025.”

This happened after the Supreme Court unanimously upheld a statute requiring the app to either split from its parent firm or be removed from the U.S. app stores. The company told users on Friday that it would shut down over the weekend unless the Biden administration gave Apple, Google, and other service providers explicit guarantees.

The deletion of the app has been developing for five years. In mid-2020, Donald Trump attempted, but failed, to impose an executive order banning the short-video editing app. Only one of the bills that several members of Congress presented to accomplish the same thing was approved.

The app then faced either having to be sold or prohibition after the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act was passed into law.

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Other apps including CapCut, Lemon8, and Gauth that are owned by ByteDance, also displayed similar notifications. On Saturday night, many users in the United States were also unable to access these apps as well.

Meanwhile, a member of the president-elect's transition office did not immediately respond to a request made by or comment on Saturday night over the app ban.