[croddin]

Even if you already have TikTok on you phone, you can’t use it now and get the following message:

> Sorry, TikTok isn't available right now

> A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can't use TikTok for now.

> 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!

[whitehexagon]

If only our climate emergency had such a hero to swoop in and save the planet. Pretty sure I saw a headline on HN last week that we already blew through the 1.5C limit, I doubt it got a fraction of the 2000+ hits this story got yesterday.

[boredatoms]

Does that hold for VPNs, or does it use app store download location?

[croddin]

VPN doesn’t work for TikTok so must be based on the App Store. VPN does seem to work to use CapCut so far though.

[ljlolel]

No, I don’t see it in App Store but TikTok works fine when I’m outside US

[jkaplowitz]

That’s dishonest of ByteDance. The legislated ban doesn’t mean the existing US users can’t use it right now. This message simply means that ByteDance made a business decision to shut it down for the existing US user base.

I understand several reasons they might be making that business decision, including supportability reasons. I also get why they might be choosing to explain the situation dishonestly. But understanding their potential motivations doesn’t make a dishonest explanation any less dishonest.