TikTok’s app was removed from prominent app stores on Saturday just before a federal law to ban the popular social media platform was scheduled to go into effect.

Challenges came in tandem with TikTok’s success. U.S. officials expressed concerns about the company’s roots and ownership, pointing to laws in China that require Chinese companies to hand over data requested by the government. Another concern became the proprietary algorithm that populates what users see on the app.

With a TikTok ban scheduled to go into effect in the United States on Sunday, many users began to see messages preventing them from using the app when they opened it after 10 p.m. Eastern on Saturday.

In an unsigned opinion, the Court sided with the national security concerns about TikTok rather than the First Amendment rights. There were no noted dissents.

As TikTok’s fate hangs in the balance, roughly 170 million users across the United States face the possibility of losing access to the app, which has become the focal point of a growing national security debate.

The popular app TikTok has "gone dark" for the 170 million American users following the Supreme Court upholding a law that bans the app in the United States.

The President-elect will decide the ultimate fate of the social media app set to be banned in the U.S. the day before his inauguration.

The Supreme Court upheld the TikTok ban on Friday. Here's what the ruling spells out for the popular app, including what upheld means.

In a concurring opinion, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote, "Whether this law will succeed in achieving its ends, I do not know."

Around two hours before the TikTok ban was set to take effect early Sunday morning, the popular social media app shut itself down. When TikTok users tried to log in, they were greeted with a message about services being temporarily unavailable,

A law signed by US President Joe Biden forced TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, to be sold or be banned by today. President-elect Donald Trump suggested he might make an announcement on the app's future tomorrow - the same day of his inauguration.