America's Best Reactions During Short TikTok Ban, World's Even Funnier Joy They Were Gone

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As Americans scrambled to other social media platforms to lament the less-than-24-hour loss of TikTok in the States, many in the rest of the world commented on how the platform felt different without the US's outsized influence -- and now they're back!

update january 19, 2025 at 9:59 a.m. pt

Seemingly within minutes of President-Elect Trump's Sunday social media post confirming his intention to offer TikTok a 90-day stay of execution, as it were, the company started returning the platform to Americans.

"In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service," the company wrote on X. "We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive."

"It’s a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship," the company continued. "We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States."

With TikTok already returning, Americans were without the platform -- and TikTok was without Americans -- for less than 24 hours. But it was certainly enough to still make a huge impact on both groups, with Americans mourning their (temporary) loss and the world marveling at how different the platform was without them.

See below for more.

original story january 19, 2025 at 9:29 a.m. pt

TikTok's Chinese owners Bytedance got ahead of the pending U.S. ban of the popular social media platform by making it dark in the States on Saturday. "Sorry, TikTok isn't available right now," was the message its 170 million American users were met with.

"A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S.," the message continued. "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!"

The app was scheduled to be banned on Sunday following the passage of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, but incoming President Trump has promised to look at a possible six-month grace period that could see it return as soon as Monday when he takes office.

In the meantime, though, United States is without one of its most popular escapes, which sent millions and millions of people to other social media platforms to lament its absence, including some of TikTok's biggest influencers ... and earners.

As compiled by TMZ, James Charles perhaps speaks for several of them when he said on Instagram, "Now I’m rooting for Trump?! Ew! God, like Make America f**king Great again I guess. God!"

It seems like their pleas for clemency (at least temporarily) will be heard as Trump took to his own Truth Social to emphasize that he plans to "issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security."

On Sunday, Trump further confirmed his commitment into looking into the matter, posting, "I’m asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark. I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture."

Trump also emphasized "there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order." It was out of concern for this that Google and Apple removed the app from their stores, as well.

The stipulations in place are that Bytedance must divest its ownership of the platform, allowing an American company to take over. Influencer MrBeast has (perhaps playfully) suggested he's interested in buying it, while Elon Musk has said he's looking into bringing back TikTok predecessor Vine.

And while all of this is being discussed, TikTok remains unavailable in the United States, creating an interesting dichotomy online. Americans have flocked to X and Instagram and other platforms to lament their loss.

At the same time, the rest of the world is experiencing TikTok without any posts or comments from America -- which is proving to be very different for them. And for many of them, they're posting that they kind of like how much quieter and kinder the platform is now. Apparently, some stereotypes carry onto digital platforms, as well!

Here are some of the best reactions we've spotted online of both the U.S. response to losing TikTok and the rest of the world's response to losing Americans during what may prove to be little more than a day without ... which to some of these users is apparently a lifetime!

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