Teigen’s comments came after TikTok “went dark” for several hours starting on Saturday, Jan 18, prior to what was supposed to be an official government ban on the Chinese-owned app. Users were greeted with an official statement from the company saying, “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.” The platform’s service was restored on Sunday, Jan. 19.
The “sell-or-ban” legislation for TikTok, which was backed by politicians from both sides of the aisle, was signed into law by President Biden in 2024 due to concerns about the app posing risks to private user data and national security. Under the new law, TikTok must be sold to an American-owned company or a non-“foreign adversary,” or else it will be banned from use in the U.S.
