TikTok is facing a major service outage in the US, impacting millions of users just days after the company handed control of its American operations to a group predominantly comprised of US investors. This technical disruption has sparked speculation among users about whether the app’s new owners are intentionally suppressing videos related to political issues, especially those surrounding recent federal immigration activities in Minnesota. TikTok has refuted these claims, attributing the issues to a power outage.
Reports began to flood in on Sunday, with users struggling to upload videos and access content already posted on the platform. Some users noted that while they could upload videos, they were receiving significantly fewer views and engagement than normal. Downdetector, a service that monitors real-time outages, indicated a spike in reports starting early yesterday morning in the US. Their alert on Monday stated, “Our data suggests that services are not yet fully restored for all users.”
Steve Vladeck, a professor at Georgetown University, posted on Bluesky about his own experience: “I recorded a video on TikTok about why DHS’s arguments for the power to enter homes without judicial warrants in immigration cases are bunk. Nine hours later, TikTok still says my video is ‘under review,’ and can’t be shared.”
Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy has also commented on the situation. In a Bluesky post, he stated, “I know it’s hard to track all the threats to democracy out there right now, but this is at the top of the list.” A spokesperson for Murphy told WIRED that they did not have additional information beyond the Senator’s tweet.
In a post from a newly created X account for TikTok’s US-controlled entity, the company said the disruptions stemmed from “a power outage at a US data center.” A TikTok spokesperson confirmed this account’s legitimacy to WIRED. When asked about claims of content censorship, the spokesperson emphasized that the problem should strictly be viewed as a technical issue, which the company has acknowledged on X. They mentioned that new posts may take longer to publish and circulate within the app’s recommendation algorithm. TikTok is working with its data center partner to resolve the issues rapidly, but no timeline has been provided for full functionality.
Oracle, which holds a 15 percent stake in TikTok’s new US entity, has managed the app’s US user data since 2022, but declined to comment on the outage. There is uncertainty about whether the outage might be linked to a severe winter storm affecting large areas of the US, leaving hundreds of thousands without power.
Last week, TikTok finalized the transfer of its US operations. On Thursday, the company announced the establishment of TikTok USDS Joint Venture, a corporate structure designed to ensure compliance with a law requiring TikTok to divest from its Chinese ownership by 2024. This law was upheld by the US Supreme Court but faced repeated delays in enforcement during the Trump administration until last week.
In their announcement, TikTok stated that the USDS Joint Venture would “retrain, test, and update the content recommendation algorithm on US user data.” This news has raised concerns among American TikTok users about the potential for the app’s new owners to manipulate the algorithm in favor of certain types of content.
