WASHINGTON (TNND) — Apple and Google have restored TikTok on their app stores after Attorney General Pam Bondi told the companies her Department of Justice would not penalize them for violating a national security law, ending a 27-day hiatus of the video-sharing platform from app stores. The move is in accordance with executive action President Donald Trump took on his first day in office.

Tech giants restoring TikTok isn't without risk, legal experts warn, especially if the executive order faces legal challenges. Violations of the law could result in fines of $5,000 per user.

The Protecting Americans' Data from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024 mandated that TikTok be sold from its Chinese parent company ByteDance by January 19 or face a U.S. ban.

“We are concerned about actions they’re taking contrary to U.S. actions around the world, but also contrary to U.S. interests and U.S. safety here at home and TikTok is a major threat," Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., said Friday morning.

Upon taking office, Trump extended the deadline by 75 days to allow more time for a sale.

“I’m sure it can be extended but let’s see. I don’t think you’ll need to," Trump told reporters Thursday.

Whether a second extension would clear legal hurdles is unclear.

Some Republicans, including Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, opposed an extension in the first place. In a joint statement on January 19, when TikTok temporarily went dark and Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft stopped hosting the app, the senators encouraged other companies to do the same.

"The law, after all, risks ruinous bankruptcy for any company who violates it. Now that the law has taken effect, there’s no legal basis for any kind of ‘extension’ of its effective date. For TikTok to come back online in the future, ByteDance must agree to a sale that satisfies the law’s qualified-divestiture requirements by severing all ties between TikTok and Communist China. Only then will Americans be protected from the grave threat posed to their privacy and security by a communist-controlled TikTok," Cotton and Ricketts said.

The president has tasked Vice President JD Vance with brokering a potential deal to move TikTok out of Chinese hands. However, the primary challenge remains that neither TikTok nor ByteDance appears willing to sell.

"I hope to be able to make a deal. I think it would be good. You know, people have learned it’s very popular. And we’ll probably have to get approval from China to do it," Trump said.

Selling TikTok’s algorithm requires approval from the Chinese government. The most promising offer to purchase the app comes from billionaire Frank McCourt.

"Well, I know what China is for sure clear about. They’re not letting the algorithm go," McCourt said. "They have said this is part of Chinese government property, so the IP is something that they have a white-knuckle grip on."