TikTok went dark in the US hours before a federal ban came into effect

Popular social media app, TikTok, stopped working in the United States late on Saturday night, leaving millions of users unable to watch or post videos on the platform.

The temporary shutdown came hours before a new law banning the video-sharing app was due to come into effect.

In a message to users, the Chinese company said it was working to restore its service in the United States as soon as possible.

The company's app was also removed from prominent app stores, including the ones operated by Apple and Google.

TikTok was banned over concerns about parent company, ByteDance’s links to China’s government.

US courts gave the company a 19 January deadline to sell TikTok to a non-Chinese buyer or face a total shutdown. It chose the latter.

Incoming US President, Donald Trump, has said he will “most likely” give TikTok a 90-day reprieve from the ban when he takes office on Monday.

TikTok CEO Shou Chew is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration with a prime seating location.

However, how long the platform will remain dark is unclear.

US lawmakers and administration officials have long raised concerns about the app, which they see as a national security threat due to its Chinese ownership.

The US has never banned a major social media platform and, even if temporary, some analysts believe it will have a negative impact on US-China relations.

After TikTok's service started going dark, some in China slammed the US and accused it of suppressing the popular app.