The controversial Chinese-owned app TikTok has gone offline, about an hour and a half before a deadline that would see it banned in the US.The app posted a message at about 10.30 p.m. eastern time saying: “Sorry,

TikTok isn’t the villain here. It’s a symptom of a much larger issue: the lack of clear, enforceable rules for data privacy and security. Instead of banning the app, the government should focus on fixing the system.

The app had more than 170 million monthly users in the U.S. The black-out is the result of a law forcing the service offline unless it sheds its ties to ByteDance, its China-based parent company.

TikTok shut down in the U.S. over a law banning the app Jan. 19 in the absence of a divestiture by parent ByteDance. Here's what could happen next.

Second, however, TikTok does present a danger. But it’s the same danger all the social media platforms present: they collect large amounts of personal data from users, including teens. (Some call TikTok's collection excessive.) But this is a story we’ve heard over and over.  They monetize invasive information for advertisers, no matter the danger.

The video app that once styled itself a joyful politics-free zone is now bracing for a nationwide ban and pinning its hopes on President-elect Donald Trump.

TikTok will become impossible to access via an American internet connection. It probably will remain possible to access from an American location, though. The rub is a virtual private network, which sets up an encrypted tunnel for internet browsing and can run it through practically any country.

As TikTok users flock to RedNote, there are several considerations, including the privacy of your data. Here’s what you need to know.

U.S. Supreme Court justices ruled prohibiting TikTok, the Chinese-owned app, is necessary to address security risks. TikTok looks to President-elect Trump for last-minute reprieve.

Millions of TikTok users in the United States are no longer able to watch videos on the social media platform.