At a Glance
- TikTok users reported a major outage after a new joint venture took over U.S. operations.
- More than 500,000 complaints were logged on Downdetector in 24 hours.
- The platform’s new owners include Oracle and Silver Lake, each holding 15% of the venture.
Why it matters: The outage and leadership shift raise questions about TikTok’s stability and the future of its U.S. user base.
The recent outage that left millions of TikTok users unable to refresh their For You page came just days after the platform’s U.S. business was placed under a new joint venture. The disruption, blamed on a power outage at a U.S. data center, sparked widespread concern about how the platform will operate under its new leadership.
Outage Hits TikTok After Ownership Change
On Sunday morning, the app’s For You page stopped refreshing for many users. Downdetector logged more than 500,000 reports within 24 hours, indicating widespread functional problems.
A spokesperson for the joint venture posted on X: “We’re working with our data center partner to stabilize our service. We’re sorry for this disruption and hope to resolve it soon.” The post blamed a power outage at a U.S. data center as the root cause.
Users quickly turned to social media to describe their experience. One X user wrote: “The new TikTok algorithm has ZERO, and I mean absolutely ZERO news or politics content, not one word about anything going on at all, not even the weather.”
Joint Venture and New Leadership
The joint venture was announced on Thursday, just days after President Donald Trump’s executive order issued in September. The order allows TikTok to continue operating in the U.S. under new, American-owned leadership.
The venture is led by three managing investors, each holding a 15% stake: Oracle, the tech giant founded by Larry Ellison; Silver Lake; and MGX, an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm. The press release stated, “The majority American-owned Joint Venture will operate under defined safeguards that protect national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurances for U.S. users.”
In its announcement, the joint venture added that its mandate was to “secure U.S. user data, apps and the algorithm through comprehensive data privacy and cybersecurity measures,” and that the algorithm would be retrained on U.S. user data and secured on Oracle servers.
User Experience and Algorithm Changes
Since the transition, users have reported noticeable differences. Some say they struggled to upload videos related to ICE protests, while others noted a sudden lack of political content.
The platform’s algorithm reportedly has been retrained on U.S. data and is now hosted on Oracle servers. This change is intended to enhance data privacy and security, but it has also altered the content users see.
The user who posted about the lack of political content on X highlighted that the new algorithm shows “ZERO news or politics content,” raising concerns about censorship and the platform’s role in political discourse.
Political Context and National Security Concerns
The move to a joint venture follows years of pressure from U.S. politicians to force ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent, to divest its U.S. operations.
President Joe Biden signed a bill in 2024 that would effectively ban TikTok in the U.S. if ByteDance failed to divest. The Supreme Court upheld the law last January, ruling that forcing a sale was justified by national security concerns tied to TikTok’s links to China.
Some lawmakers, however, argue that the ban’s motivation extends beyond national security. Former Senator Mitt Romney linked bipartisan support for the ban to concerns about pro-Palestinian content on the app during a forum in May 2024.
The involvement of Oracle’s Larry Ellison-an ally of former President Trump and the sixth-richest person in the world with a net worth of $231 billion-adds another layer of political intrigue to the platform’s U.S. operations.
Key Takeaways
- The outage affecting the For You page coincided with a new joint venture that now runs TikTok’s U.S. business.
- The joint venture, led by Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX, aims to secure data and comply with U.S. national-security requirements.
- Users are noticing changes in content, particularly a drop in political material.
- The platform’s future in the U.S. remains tied to political and legal developments surrounding ownership and national security.
The combination of a sudden outage, a new leadership structure, and ongoing political scrutiny underscores the uncertainty surrounding TikTok’s U.S. presence.
