Is TikTok down? Users report disruptions amid US ownership transition

TikTok users across multiple regions reported widespread disruptions on Sunday, with thousands taking to social media to share difficulties accessing and using the app, raising questions over whether the popular video-sharing platform was experiencing a major outage.

Users reported being unable to sign into their accounts, encountering lagging performance, failing to repost videos, repeatedly seeing content they had already viewed and noticing less curated feeds. The outage began and peaked shortly, with over 36,000 reports recorded on Downdetector. However, many users said disruptions continued into Monday.

The incident comes as TikTok’s US operations enter a new phase following a landmark ownership restructuring aimed at averting a nationwide ban over concerns about Chinese control of the platform.

After a prolonged legal battle, TikTok has established a majority American-owned joint venture to operate its US business, deflecting the threat of a ban tied to its Chinese ownership. Users were prompted to accept updated terms of service covering “new types of location information” and data usage, though no new app download was required.

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Whether the roughly 200 million US users will notice changes in their experience remains uncertain. TikTok has pledged that American users will continue to receive a “global TikTok experience,” allowing creators to reach international audiences and businesses to “operate on a global scale.” However, the shift to a US-only algorithm has raised new questions.

“There are still questions of how this new entity will interact with other versions of TikTok globally,” said Jennifer Huddleston of the CATO Institute in Washington. She also wondered about “what influence the US government may have over the algorithm and the free speech concerns that could arise from this new arrangement.”

At the center of the ownership deal is TikTok’s powerful recommendation algorithm, which US lawmakers had warned could be exploited for data collection or propaganda by the Chinese government. The new US ownership has promised to “retrain” the algorithm, though how this will reshape user feeds remains unclear.

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Major US investor Larry Ellison is financing the deal, alongside his son David’s recent takeover of Paramount and a bidding push for Warner Bros, developments that could give the family unprecedented influence across American media.

Creators remain watchful, as their earnings and visibility depend on the platform’s algorithmic distribution. Some have already shifted to rival platforms amid uncertainty surrounding TikTok’s political and regulatory future.

Despite the turmoil, TikTok remains widely used in the United States, though competition is intensifying. “TikTok remains incredibly popular in the US, but it's facing more competition than ever, particularly from Instagram Reels,” said Emarketer analyst Minda Smiley. She added that while US users still spend more time on TikTok than on rival apps, that time is declining each year, “signalling that the app is struggling to keep users hooked in the way it once did.”

National security concerns continue to shadow the deal. The divestment may have satisfied the Trump administration, but scepticism remains on Capitol Hill. “The TikTok deal has improved the privacy of exactly no one and has done nothing to improve national security,” said Kate Ruane of the Washington-based Centre for Democracy & Technology.

ByteDance now owns just under 20 per cent of the company, with the remainder held by mainly US firms. Republican House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman John Moolenaar has pledged full oversight of the agreement, signalling potential friction ahead.

Questions also persist over data practices, particularly as TikTok’s e-commerce and marketing functions remain linked to its global entity. “I don't know how you could accomplish e-commerce and not take data from me as an American user,” said University of Florida media professor Andrew Selepak.

For University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias, “It seems like Trump has just eclipsed whatever Congress might have intended in terms of national security.”