Why TikTok’s first week of American ownership was a disaster | TikTok
A little over a week ago, TikTok arrived on American shores as a naturalized citizen. Since then, the video application has been fighting for its survival.
TikTok’s disastrous emigration began on January 22 when its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, finalized a deal to sell the app to a group of American investors, including business software giant Oracle. The app’s time under Chinese ownership had been marked by a meteoric rise to more than a billion users, which left incumbents such as Instagram looking like the next Myspace. But TikTok’s short new life in the United States has not boded well.
The day after TikTok’s arrival, its owners changed its privacy policy to allow for broader data collection, including tracking the precise location of its users. The change was marked less by a possible invasion of privacy than by suspicion of the new owners. The updated policy aligns with those of other major social networks. But what did these men, including billionaire Oracle owner and Maga donor Larry Ellison, intend to do with user data? These changes aroused suspicion which turned into paranoia a few days later.
In the weekend following the transfer of ownership of TikTok, the United States went through two major events. A severe, frigid snowstorm has hit the country and put around 230 million people on alert for power outages and burst pipes. And federal immigration agents killed a 37-year-old U.S. citizen in Minneapolis during a protest, which prompted outright lies from the White House despite extensive video footage. Both would bring down TikTok, but in different ways.
Winter Storm Fern crippled several Oracle data centers that TikTok relies on, which the company did not make public at the time. As a result, the app suffered severe outages, according to a company statement. Many users reported that they were unable to download videos. Others said their videos received no views despite having a significant number of follows.
Simultaneously, prominent figures were attempting to use TikTok to express outrage over the violent death of Alex Pretti at the hands and weapons of Border Patrol agents. They found that they couldn’t post videos or didn’t receive any views. In response, many users — including California state Sen. Scott Weiner, musician Billie Eilish and her brother, and comedian Meg Stalter — accused TikTok of stifling videos critical of federal immigration agents. Stalter said she would delete her account, which has nearly 280,000 followers. Media outlets around the world – the New York Times, Variety, the Independent, CNN, the Washington Post – echoed their claims. Cosmopolitan magazine asked, “Does TikTok censor anti-ICE content?” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut tweeted that TikTok’s alleged censorship was a “threat to democracy.”
After days of online outcry, IRL scrutiny, and likely dozens of requests for clarification from the press, TikTok released a statement on January 26 blaming the problems on snow, ice, and cold.
Oracle released a more detailed statement: “Over the weekend, an Oracle data center experienced a weather-related temporary power outage that affected TikTok. The challenges that US TikTok users may be experiencing are the result of technical issues that followed the power outage. “It’s rare for a physical event like a storm to hurt a major digital life site like TikTok, as these popular apps often have backups on top of their backups, but it can happen.
The most powerful figure to accuse TikTok of censorship wasn’t its most famous user. The governor of California is better known for his text presence on X than for his TikToks. Nonetheless, Gavin Newsom announced on January 27 that his office would investigate whether TikTok had censored videos critical of Donald Trump, expanding the scope of the app’s alleged pro-Maga interference.
The delayed attribution of blame did little to assuage public criticism. An unknown number of users have said they are decamping from the new US TikTok in response to its perceived censorship. This exodus has propelled a new competitor, Upscrolled, which promises less censorship than TikTok, to first place in the Apple App Store in the United States and third place in the Google Play Store. An Upscrolled press release now claims over a million users. At the time of writing, TikTok ranks 16th on the iPhone App Store and 10th on the Google Play Store. Alongside Upscrolled in the top 10 most downloaded apps are three apps used to hide online activity from surveillance, known as virtual private networks (VPNs). Fear of a digital government incursion hangs in the air.
With over a billion users worldwide, it seems unlikely that TikTok will disappear completely as a result of these failures. Facebook and Instagram have withstood far more serious scandals than this one. TikTok’s first week in the United States, however, does not bode well for its future. The app has damaged user trust, and another misstep could cause more lasting harm.
The week of chaos on TikTok started with Trump. The transfer of ownership of TikTok solidifies the ban or sale deal proposed by the US president almost six years ago, and he said he was delighted that the transfer had finally happened. In the years since, Trump has reversed his support for the deal; his enemy Joe Biden had supported him during his presidency; Congress had passed a law codifying Trump’s wishes and legally mandating the sale of TikTok; and the U.S. Supreme Court ratified the law despite a challenge from TikTok and immense popular disapproval. Then Trump ordered an immigration crackdown that paved the way for the murder of two American citizens. The only aspect of TikTok’s miserable week that Trump didn’t participate in was the winter weather.
The disastrous arrival of TikTok marks an anniversary of an equally failed nature. A year and two weeks ago, the app stopped working in the United States due to the same sell-or-ban law that precipitated the sale. This darkening lasted less than 24 hours. Its new owners can only hope that their current problems will disappear as soon as possible.
