For the first time in the history of the Internet, the United States government has officially banned a major global platform, joining authoritarian powers such as Russia and China. On Saturday, TikTok went dark. Users who try to use the app will now be greeted with a message that says “TikTok is currently unavailable.”

“We are grateful that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to TikTok as soon as he takes office,” the message added. “Please stay awake!”

It is the final result of the laws of Congress passed last year which requires TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app’s services in America or face a nationwide ban. But unlike countries that regularly search the Internet, the US has no basis to block Americans from accessing certain apps or websites.

Instead, the law forces Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores, or risk a multi-million dollar fine. Both companies appear to have removed TikTok and other apps owned by their parent ByteDance as of Saturday. Google and Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The law also prohibits companies from providing data storage services to TikTok. Oracle, which counts TikTok as one of its biggest digital customers, says he started telling the staff shutting down servers that host US TikTok data on Saturday, according to The Information. Oracle did not return a request for comment.

In May, TikTok and a group of its creators in the US asked to stop the law from going into effect, saying that it violates the First Amendment. Supreme Court to be rejected these arguments in a resolution that was agreed on January 17, concluding that the law was motivated by “concerns of national security.”

Evelyn Douek, a professor at Stanford Law School who specializes in Internet speech, said: “It is a clear violation of the First Amendment. “Unfortunately for me, all nine justices of the Supreme Court dissent, and almost everyone who matters has taken their opinion on me. It’s hard to take the national security justification seriously, however, when in recent days former and future presidents and members of Congress seem to They are backing off if a stoppage is necessary.”

A few days before the deadline, President Biden signed a waiver from the Trump administration. The move left the future of the app in limbo, and TikTok urged Biden’s administration on Saturday to issue a definitive statement that it would not comply with the law. In response, Biden’s team said TikTok should share its concerns with Trump.

At Blind, an anonymous messaging app popular among tech workers, some TikTok employees decided to have a job next month, while others went about business as usual. “Anyone else’s manager still planning meetings next week about the new, upcoming jobs without agreeing to the ban?” wrote one user. “I have 2025 meetings next week,” another user replied. “I’m doing what I’m told. It comforts me somehow. “