CapCut, a video-editing app from ByteDance, returns for US users

WASHINGTON - TikTok is not the only app owned by Chinese internet giant ByteDance that is flickering back to life.

CapCut, a popular video-editing app, came back online in the US on Jan 21 after going dark over the weekend.

Users who opened the app or visited its website were greeted with a pop-up message on Jan 21 that began: “Thanks for your patience and support. CapCut is back in the US.”

CapCut became unavailable in the country just before a federal law banning TikTok and other ByteDance apps took effect on Jan 19.

TikTok returned for US users

at midday on Jan 19 after Mr Donald Trump said he would issue an executive order to stall enforcement of the law once he was sworn in as president.

His order, issued on Jan 20, reassured some internet hosting companies that would have faced hefty fines for distributing or maintaining TikTok that they could now do so without penalties. TikTok said that Lemon8, a sister app, began to work again around the same time as TikTok.

Apple and Google are complying with the law, which explicitly requires app store operators to stop distributing and updating ByteDance apps. TikTok, CapCut and Lemon8 were not available on either company’s app store as at the afternoon of Jan 21 in New York. The return of CapCut is significant, particularly after Instagram, which is owned by Meta, announced a rival app called Edits over the weekend.

The federal law concerning ByteDance said its apps would be banned in the US if they were not sold to a non-Chinese owner by Jan 19. The law was passed by Congress, signed by President Joe Biden and upheld unanimously by the Supreme Court on Jan 17, but Mr Trump’s order extended the deadline by 75 days. Tech companies are taking different approaches to working with ByteDance apps, as it is not clear whether the president has the power to halt enforcement of a federal law.

Ms Mae Karwowski, the founder of Obviously, an influencer marketing firm, said creators were breathing sighs of relief to have CapCut back.

“People just find it to be the easiest, most straightforward way to edit videos on the fly,” she said. “I heard so many people saying, ‘Oh man, this is going to hurt on its own,’ even outside of not being able to post to TikTok.”

She added that CapCut’s disappearance was jarring for some creators, who did not realise that it would also be affected by the new law. “A lot of people forgot they go hand in hand and they’re owned by the same people,” Ms Karwowski said.

TikTok did not respond to a request for comment on when CapCut returned, or why it had stayed offline longer than TikTok and Lemon8. NYTIMES