TikTok remains available to Canadians as app goes dark in the U.S.

TikTok users will notice a lack of new content from American creators after the app went dark in the United States, but the popular social media video platform remains accessible in Canada.

The U.S. ban on TikTok is now in effect, although president-elect Donald Trump said Sunday that he plans to issue an executive order that would give the app’s China-based parent company more time to find an approved buyer.

On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it had unanimously upheld a federal law banning TikTok beginning Sunday unless the platform is sold by ByteDance.

U.S. users started receiving late Saturday a message in the app about the ban, saying they can’t use the platform “for now.”

TikTok was also removed from prominent app stores in the U.S., including those operated by Apple and Google.

The U.S. Supreme Court ban does not extend to Canada, which ordered the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business in November after a national security review of ByteDance.

TikTok has filed a legal challenge to fight Canada’s dissolution order, which stopped short of ordering people in the country to stay off the app.

Accounts and existing videos from American creators were still visible in the app on Sunday, but Canadian users could not see any new activity or content from them.

Following the Supreme Court’s announcement, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew indicated Trump had committed to working with the company to find a solution that keeps the app available in the U.S.

Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social account Sunday that his order would extend the period of time before the U.S. law’s “prohibitions take effect.”

The U.S. became interested in banning TikTok in the last few years because it was worried about Chinese national security laws that compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 19, 2025.

— With files from The Associated Press

The Canadian Press