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TikTok is currently experiencing a widespread service outage in the United States, causing service outages for millions of users just a few days after the company officially transferred control of its US business to a group of… The majority of American investors.
Technical issues have led many TikTok users to speculate about whether the app’s new owners are intentionally suppressing videos related to political topics, especially content related to political issues. Recent federal immigration operations In Minnesota. TikTok denied the allegations, attributing the problems to power outages.
TikTok users began reporting on Sunday that they were having trouble uploading videos to the app as well as viewing content that was already posted on the platform. Others said that while they were able to upload videos, they were receiving far fewer views and engagement than usual.
According to the Downdetector websitewhich tracks service outages in real-time, a large number of users started reporting service outages on TikTok starting yesterday morning in the United States. “Our data indicates that services have not yet been fully restored for all users,” reads the alert shared by Downdetector on Monday.
Steve Vladeck, a professor at Georgetown University Law School, told Bluesky mail He “recorded a video on TikTok about why DHS’s arguments about the authority to enter homes without warrants in immigration cases are incorrect. Nine hours later, TikTok is still saying my video is ‘under review’ and cannot be shared.”
The technical errors also caught the attention of Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy. “I know it’s hard to keep track of all the threats facing democracy out there right now, but this is at the top of the list,” Murphy wrote in a letter. Share Bluesky. When Denny Kemper, Murphy’s spokesman, was reached for comment, he told WIRED that his office “didn’t have anything to share other than the senator’s tweet.”
In a post from a new X account created by the US-controlled app entity, TikTok said the outage was due to a “power outage at a US data centre.” A TikTok spokesperson confirmed the account’s authenticity to WIRED.
When asked about user claims that content was being censored on the platform, the spokesperson said it would be inaccurate to describe the issue as anything other than a technical issue that the company has publicly confirmed on X.
The spokesperson added that new TikTok posts may take temporarily longer to post and be distributed through the app’s recommendation algorithm. TikTok says it’s working with its data center partner to restore service as quickly as possible, but there’s currently no estimate for when the app will be fully functional again.
Oracle, which owns 15% of TikTok’s new US entity, has been hosting US user data for the app since 2022. The company declined to comment on the outage. It is unclear whether it may be related to A Strong winter storm It sweeps across large parts of the United States, leaving hundreds of thousands of Americans without power.
TikTok completed the transfer of ownership of its US operations last week. Thursday company Announce It created the TikTok USDS Joint Venture, a corporate entity aimed at making the app compliant with a 2024 law that requires TikTok to divest from its Chinese ownership. The US Supreme Court upheld this law, but it was implemented Postpone again and again By the Trump administration until last week.
In the announcement, TikTok said the TikTok USDS joint venture will “retrain, test and update its content recommendation algorithm on US user data.” The news has many American TikTok users concerned that the app’s new owners could manipulate the algorithm to prioritize certain types of content over others.