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A viral social media video on X features a man going around and deleting TikTok off of people's phones in Atlanta. This comes after TikTok was banned at 10:30 pm on January 18, following a U.S Supreme Court order requiring the app's China-based owner, Byte Dance, to offload the app.
To netizens' surprise, the app shutdown was temporary, and the app was restored by Sunday afternoon after President-elect Donald Trump provided the "necessary clarity and assurance" to ByteDance.
On January 20, Trump signed an executive order delaying the app's ban by 75 days. This gives ByteDance more time to sell a stake in the platform. Although longtime users have resumed using the popular social media app, it remains unavailable for new users to download.
Users who already had it downloaded are able to use it, but the app stays unavailable on Apple and Google App Stores.
Back to the viral Atlanta man video! Here are some reactions:
"oops, sounds like someone's on a mission to ruin dance routines! ever consider a phone backup plan?" - a user suggested
"that's some next-level evil right there! what's next, stealing Instagram filters?" - another user commented
"bro tryna increase demand for them pre installed tiktok iphones" - a user mentioned
"If he keeps playing like that he will be deleted from this earth 😭 tf he talking about" - another user added
This comes after user iPhones preloaded with the popular app are being sold for as high as $50,000 on eBay.
Users find a way to reinstall TikTok
Since users found out that TikTok is not available for downloading on the App Store and Google Play, there's a new market for used iPhones with pre-downloaded apps.
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Used iPhones with pre-downloaded apps are being sold on Facebook Marketplace and eBay for as high as $50,000. In addition to selling preloaded phones, some entrepreneurs on Facebook Marketplace claim that they can install the app for around $50, claiming to have found a way to download the app directly from Apple's servers.
Android users trying to find the app on Google Play Store are greeted with an unclickable icon of the app with the query: "Looking for TikTok" with a message underneath reading: "Downloads for this app are paused due to current U.S legal requirements."
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