After a tumultuous night that left over 170 million Americans locked out of TikTok, the app made something of a comeback.

TikTok’s U.S. drama hit a plot twist worthy of a binge-worthy series when on January 20 President Trump hit pause on the ban at the last second, pushing the deadline to early April and giving TikTok a 75-day lifeline to negotiate a deal to stay stateside.

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TikTok announced it will be restoring services across the U.S., following the complete shutdown of its platform. The dramatic move came as ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, adhered to a U.S. ban while negotiations unfolded behind the scenes.

TikTok’s statement clarified the situation: “In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. 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.”

During the shutdown, TikTok users flooded VPN services in a desperate attempt to bypass the ban, only to find their efforts futile. As Simon Migliano of Top10VPN explained to Zak Doffman at Forbes, “Unfortunately, VPNs aren’t currently working to bypass the ban. If your TikTok account was created in the U.S. or with an American SIM, then changing your IP address or spoofing your GPS data won’t unblock TikTok as you would normally expect.”

“eBay listings range from a Galaxy A-35, complete with TikTok, for a casual $22,000”

The frustration is evident in the numbers. VPNMentor reported a 1,566% spike in VPN demand within minutes of TikTok’s shutdown, while Top10VPN noted an 827% surge. Despite this, ByteDance’s ban was airtight, blocking not only U.S.-based IPs but also accounts linked to American users.

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Meanwhile, chaos ensued in the tech underworld. According to Similarweb, RedNote– TikTok’s rival—saw its daily active users nosedive by 54%, the moment the ban enforcement was put on hold. Guess not everyone’s ready to trade dance trends for… whatever RedNote is offering.