TikTok is currently facing a major and far-reaching service disruption across the United States, an event that has interrupted the daily routines of millions of its users at an especially delicate moment—only a few days after the company finalized the transfer of control of its American division to a newly formed consortium led predominantly by U.S.-based investors. This large-scale outage, though presented as a purely technical malfunction, has unleashed waves of speculation, confusion, and concern within the online community, as many users attempt to understand whether the timing of the incident is a coincidence or a symptom of deeper issues linked to the company’s ongoing restructuring.
As reports of malfunction began to surge, numerous TikTok users publicly expressed suspicions that the disruptions might not be accidental. Discussions proliferated across social platforms, with some individuals suggesting that the platform’s new leadership might be deliberately suppressing content dealing with contentious political subjects—particularly those engaging with recent federal immigration enforcement operations taking place in Minnesota. In response to such accusations, TikTok issued a firm denial, attributing the disruptions not to human decision-making or policy-driven interference but rather to a straightforward power outage affecting one of its primary data centers. The company insisted there was no basis for claims of intentional censorship or manipulation of politically sensitive material.
Beginning late Sunday, users throughout the United States reported diverse and irregular technical malfunctions. Some found themselves unable to upload any new videos, while others noted that previously posted material was disappearing from their feeds or taking unusually long to load. A subset of creators confirmed that although their uploads were technically successful, their reach had been dramatically curtailed—the number of views and interactions had fallen sharply compared to normal engagement levels, raising further doubts about whether an algorithmic irregularity or a complete systems outage was to blame. According to Downdetector—a well-known platform that monitors online services and documents real-time digital outages—there was a sharp spike in reports of TikTok unavailability early yesterday morning. By Monday, Downdetector issued a status update acknowledging that, based on available data, full service continuity had not yet been restored nationwide.
Among those personally affected by the glitch was Steve Vladeck, a distinguished professor at Georgetown University’s School of Law, who disclosed in a Bluesky post that he had uploaded a critical video discussing the Department of Homeland Security’s legal justification for entering private residences in immigration cases without a judicial warrant. His commentary challenged DHS’s arguments, labeling them as fundamentally flawed. Yet, he explained, nine hours after submitting the video, TikTok continued to classify it as “under review,” rendering it unshareable across the platform. The delay reinforced users’ suspicions that certain subjects might be under heightened scrutiny during this period of instability.
The issue quickly caught the attention of national policymakers. Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut responded on Bluesky with a remark underscoring his concern, noting that although numerous challenges to democratic integrity demand attention at this moment, the situation with TikTok deserved to be seen as particularly serious. His statement signaled the potential political resonance of an event that could otherwise have remained a technical narrative. When WIRED requested clarification, Murphy’s spokesperson, Deni Kemper, confirmed that the senator’s office had nothing further to add beyond the content of his public post.
In a subsequent communication from a recently established X (formerly Twitter) account that represents TikTok’s newly U.S.-controlled corporate entity, the company declared that the problems originated from a “power outage at a U.S. data center.” A TikTok spokesperson confirmed to WIRED that this new social account was authentic and indeed managed by the American management team. When asked explicitly about recurring allegations of content censorship, the spokesperson dismissed those claims, emphasizing that any characterization of the event as ideological suppression was erroneous. Instead, they reiterated that TikTok had already explained the issue transparently as a technical failure and that all available evidence pointed toward infrastructure causes rather than human intervention.
The company further explained that, until full restoration is achieved, newly uploaded videos might take longer to process and circulate within the platform’s complex recommendation system—an algorithm that typically determines the speed and scope of content dissemination. TikTok confirmed it was collaborating closely with its data center partners to return the service to normal operation as swiftly as possible. Despite these assurances, the company declined to offer a concrete timetable for full recovery, leaving users in a state of prolonged uncertainty.
Oracle, which holds a 15-percent stake in the new U.S. TikTok entity and has managed the storage of American user data since 2022, refused to issue a public statement regarding the current disruption. Observers have speculated—though without confirmation—that the power outage might have been connected to the severe winter storm traversing large portions of the country, a weather event that has already deprived hundreds of thousands of Americans of electricity. Still, no definitive linkage between the storm and TikTok’s outage has been verified.
This technical crisis occurred only days after TikTok formally concluded the transfer of ownership of its American operations. On Thursday of the previous week, the company announced the creation of TikTok USDS Joint Venture, a separate corporate entity designed to comply with the recently enacted 2024 federal law compelling the platform to divest from any Chinese ownership interests. Though upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, enforcement of the statute had been delayed multiple times by the previous administration and only came into effect last week. TikTok’s announcement stated that this new venture would be responsible for retraining, testing, and updating the recommendation algorithm based strictly on data derived from U.S. users. However, even this procedural reassurance has sparked apprehension among the platform’s American audience, many of whom fear that the algorithm could now be used, consciously or inadvertently, by the new ownership group to emphasize certain types of content while marginalizing others. In this tense environment, the current outage has taken on amplified symbolic weight—serving as both a literal disruption of connectivity and a metaphorical challenge to TikTok’s credibility, transparency, and control as it enters a new chapter under American governance.
Sourse: https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-ice-videos-censorship-allegations-algorithm/
