As snowstorms swept across the United States on Sunday, TikTok users began reporting widespread issues with the app. Problems included difficulties loading comments and unexpected behavior from the For You page algorithm. For some, these technical glitches continued to persist.
The timing of these outages coincided with the recent establishment of a separate U.S. TikTok entity. This move was mandated by the U.S. government over concerns that the Chinese government could access user data through the app’s former parent company, ByteDance. Under the new structure, ByteDance now owns less than 20% of the TikTok USDS Joint Venture, while managing investors Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX each own 15%.
However, the TikTok USDS Joint Venture stated the issues were unrelated to the ownership change. The company explained the problems were caused by a power outage at a U.S. data center impacting TikTok and other apps it operates. The company apologized for the disruption and said it was working with its data center partner to stabilize service.
User-reported data from Downdetector confirmed the outage was impacting people across the country. While TikTok’s explanation is logical, given that over a million people in the U.S. lost power from the storm, some users remained suspicious due to the proximity to the joint venture’s formation.
The outage also overlapped with ongoing protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where thousands of ICE agents have been deployed since early January in what officials called the largest immigration operation ever. Following the fatal shooting of a civilian by border patrol agents on Saturday, some TikTok users reported trouble searching for information about the events in Minneapolis. These malfunctions led to concerns about possible government censorship, though TikTok attributes them to the same data center outage.
Over the same weekend, people expressed concern about an updated privacy policy from TikTok. The new language states the app can collect data on users, including details on sexual orientation, transgender or nonbinary status, and citizenship or immigration status. However, some of these disclosures are not new and had appeared in earlier versions of the policy, primarily to comply with California’s Consumer Privacy Act.
While the recent TikTok outages and privacy policy updates may be routine issues with unfortunate timing, Americans have reason to be cautious about social media surveillance, especially during periods of political unrest.