Short-form video platform TikTok has returned to the app stores of both Apple (AAPL) and
Google (GOOGL).
The Chinese-owned social media app that has been accused of spying on its users had been removed from the two app stores in January of this year.
The removal from the app stores came when a national security law enacted by former U.S. President Joe Biden went into effect.
However, TikTok has been restored to the Apple App Store and Google Play under the new administration of President Donald Trump.
The previous Biden law required China-based TikTok owner ByteDance to divest its U.S. operations or face a ban of the app in America.
The Biden administration argued that ByteDance’s ownership and its alleged ties to the People’s Republic of China make the app a U.S. national security risk.
The Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration in a ruling issued in early January.
However, President Trump said he would postpone enforcement of the ban on TikTok and has signed an executive order to extend the deadline to April 5 of this year.
Trump has also said that he “would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture” to “save TikTok, keep it in good hands, and allow it to say up.”
Despite being removed from the two app stores for nearly a month, TikTok has quickly recovered about 90% of the traffic it was seeing prior to January.
ByteDance is a privately held company. Its stock does not trade on a public exchange.
