TikTok has officially moved its U.S. operations to a new majority American-owned company. The transition finished late last week. Soon after, many U.S. users began reporting problems with the app, raising concerns about stability and moderation.
Over the weekend, users struggled to upload videos or saw unusually low views and engagement. Some posts entered review queues without clear reasons. Others received notices saying their content was “Ineligible for Recommendation,” while a few accounts faced temporary suspensions. Many affected videos focused on Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Saturday shooting in Minneapolis, which led to fears of censorship.
TikTok blames data center outage
TikTok later said a power outage at a U.S. data center triggered a “cascading systems failure.” According to the company, the issue caused several bugs across the app.
Users may still notice:
- Slower loading times
- Requests timing out
- Videos showing zero views or likes
- Problems uploading new content
TikTok said it is still working to fully restore normal service.
Users react and explore alternatives
The outage and moderation concerns pushed some users to try other platforms. UpScrolled, a short video app, briefly climbed to number two on the U.S. App Store’s free apps list before settling lower.
At the same time, some users raised questions about TikTok’s updated privacy policy. The policy mentions collecting “citizenship or immigration status” along with precise location data. TikTok noted that similar language appeared in earlier versions of the policy.
Inside the new U.S. TikTok company
The new entity, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, is 80.1 percent owned by U.S. and global investors. Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX each hold 15 percent as managing investors. ByteDance retains a 19.9 percent stake.
A seven-member, majority American board oversees U.S. operations. Adam Presser, TikTok’s former global head of operations, now serves as CEO. The company manages U.S. data protection, content moderation, and algorithm security, with the recommendation system hosted in Oracle’s cloud.
The transfer to U.S. ownership was expected to calm regulatory pressure. Instead, the early technical failures have made the rollout feel shaky. TikTok says stability remains the priority as it works to fix the remaining issues.
