TikTok said a power outage at one of its U.S. data centers caused technical issues after some users experienced slower load times and lower engagement on the app.
Days after TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, finalized a deal to set up a majority American-owned joint venture to run the app and avoid a ban in the U.S., users reported issues on the platform on Sunday, Jan. 25, and Monday, Jan. 26.
A spokesperson for Oracle, one of the members of the new American-owned joint venture — called TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC — said in a statement to USA TODAY that one of its data centers "experienced a temporary weather-related power outage which impacted TikTok."
"The challenges U.S. TikTok users may be experiencing are the result of technical issues that followed the power outage, which Oracle and TikTok are working to quickly resolve,” said Michael Egbert, the Oracle spokesperson.
Millions of Americans experienced severe winter weather over Jan. 25-27, causing widespread power outages .
TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC initially said in a statement on its website after 10 a.m. ET on Jan. 26 that it was "working to restore our services following a power outage at a U.S. data center."
In its latest update just before 11 a.m. ET on Jan. 27, TikTok said it "made significant progress in recovering our U.S. infrastructure with our data center partner."
"However, the U.S. user experience may still have some technical issues, including when posting new content. We're committed to bringing TikTok back to its full capacity as soon as possible. We'll continue to provide updates. Thanks for your patience," the update said.
Much of the nation east of the Rocky Mountains is hunkered down for what could be the worst winter storm of the season , followed by some of the coldest temperatures seen in years. The storm began out of Texas and Oklahoma Friday evening, hitting the region with heavy sleet and snow. Forecasters have warned of "catastrophic" ice accumulation. On Saturday, the system is expected to push towards Virginia, dumping a foot of snow or more on parts of the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic, while New England sees double-digit subzero temperatures. See the dramatic scenes of frigid cold temperatures, beginning here with an image of a jogger on the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge in Nashville, Tenn., Jan. 24, 2026.
TikTok outage caused zero views appearing on videos
The outage tracking website Downdetector said reports of issues began spiking before 4 a.m. ET on Jan. 25 and hit a peak of 36,000 reports in just 15 minutes.
Within 24 hours, more than 585,000 reports had been submitted to the website, with the primary issues being with app functionality and the "for you page" timeline not refreshing.
Some users on the app experienced issues like bugs, slower load times or timed-out requests, TikTok said.
"Creators may temporarily see '0' views or likes on videos, and your earnings may look like they're missing. This is a display error caused by server timeouts; your actual data and engagement are safe," TikTok said.
On social media, users raised concerns about not being able to see news-related content.
"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," @jules_su said in a post on X that has been viewed more than 2 million times to date.
Many reported videos were remaining at zero views or getting lower engagement than usual, as TikTok acknowledged.
Others alleged the platform may be censoring certain political content, such as videos related to the ongoing anti-Immigrations and Customs Enforcement protests in Minnesota or about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein .
The claims became so widespread that California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on X that he would be "launching a review into whether TikTok is violating state law by censoring Trump-critical content."
While TikTok has not publicly addressed any allegations of censorship on the app, content including politics related-videos appeared to be available as normal after outage reports slowed.
More: Why Megan Stalter is deleting her TikTok account
TikTok outage came days after finalizing US ownership deal
On Thursday, Jan. 22, ByteDance finalized a deal to set up the American-owned joint venture, which avoided a ban on TikTok in the U.S. after years of uncertainty over its future.
The new U.S. ownership group, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, is in charge of securing U.S. user data, apps and the algorithm through data privacy and cybersecurity measures, the company said.
As part of the change in ownership, TikTok introduced new terms and conditions users had to agree to on the app.
"We're updating our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy (both as linked) effective January 22, 2026 to reflect changes including our updated corporate entity," the TikTok website says.
The group includes American and global investors, including cloud computing giant Oracle, private equity group Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX. They hold a stake of 80.1% in the new joint venture, while ByteDance retains 19.9%.
Billionaire Larry Ellison , Oracle's co-founder, is a known ally of President Donald Trump .
Trump last year issued several extensions of the app's ban as he promised that deals to switch ownership hands were on the horizon. TikTok faced a potential ban in the U.S. stemming from concerns over data sharing with China.
Contributing: Reuters
Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at melina.khan@usatoday.com .
This story has been updated with new information.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is TikTok down, not working? Company says power outage lead to issues
