Chinese social media app TikTok is back on Apple’s (AAPL) App Store and Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google Play store for fresh downloads from February 13. TikTok’s return marks nearly a month of being unavailable for new U.S. users to download and sign in to the app. The app stores of the two giants restored the TikTok app after receiving assurance that they would not be fined for distributing or maintaining the app in the U.S.
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TikTok went black for roughly a day in the U.S. on January 18, a day before President Biden’s law enforcing TikTok’s divestiture or ban in the U.S. came into effect. However, incoming President Donald Trump soon signed an executive order delaying the ban for a further 75 days, until April 5. Notably, Oracle (ORCL), which is the exclusive server provider for ByteDance-owned app in the U.S., was also facing a severe threat from TikTok’s U.S. ban.
TikTok’s Tale of U.S. Ban
TikTok was used by over 170 million Americans, with roughly 52 million downloads in 2024, according to data from Sensor Tower. The stats also showed that 52% of the downloads were from the Apple App Store, while the remaining 48% were from Google Play in the U.S. The American administration worries that TikTok (ByteDance) could be selling U.S. consumers’ data to Chinese military outfits.
However, Trump has shown a soft corner for the app’s usage in the U.S. He has suggested that TikTok’s U.S. operations could continue functioning if it is half owned by the U.S. government. On Thursday, Trump also said that he could reconsider the 75-day extension for TikTok if a fitting solution is not reached until then. Meanwhile, several potential buyers have emerged for TikTok’s U.S. operations, namely former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary, billionaire Elon Musk, and AI (artificial intelligence) startup Perplexity AI.
Which Are the Best Social Media Stocks to Buy?
We used the TipRanks Stock Comparison Tool for Top Social Media Stocks to understand which U.S.-based stock is best positioned for future growth. Investors can consider investing in one of these stocks after thorough research. Currently, Meta Platforms and Pinterest score Wall Street’s Strong Buy consensus rating, with PINS stock offering a higher upside potential among the two.
