TikTok in hot water over content restrictions, policy and outage

TikTok’s newly formed US-led joint venture is facing intense scrutiny as users and politicians report widespread glitches and alleged content suppression.

Data from Sensor Tower reveals that the daily average of US users deleting the app has spiked nearly 150% over the last five days compared to the previous three months.

Why are users leaving?
The exodus is largely driven by user skepticism regarding the revised privacy policy that came with the US transition.

Creators flagged that the new policy collected sensitive data, including race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and financial information. But experts note that this existed in previous versions of the policy, too.

Adding to the controversy, users also discovered that direct messages containing the name “Epstein” triggered community guideline violations. TikTok said it is a bug and is investigating.

Users were unable to post ICE-related videos this week and faced technical glitches and a 24-hour upload outage, which the company attributed to a power failure at a US data center.

Oracle's Larry Ellison and a group of investors spent $14 billion to acquire 80.1% of the platform. China-based ByteDance owns the rest of the company.

Ellison is a prominent supporter of President Donald Trump.

Overall, the timing of the joint venture has fueled fears of increased censorship. California Governor Gavin Newsom has launched a review into reports of suppressed content critical of Trump, calling for a state investigation into potential legal violations.