TikTok US denies claims it is censoring content.

TikTok US Pushes Back Against Censorship Allegations Amidst Widespread Technical Glitches and Investor Scrutiny

TikTok US has strongly refuted claims that its newly established American operations are engaging in content censorship, attributing widespread user-reported glitches to technical issues following its separation from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. A spokesperson for TikTok US, in a statement to the BBC, reiterated earlier explanations, emphasizing that the problems encountered by users are a direct result of ongoing infrastructure recovery efforts with their US data center partner. "We’ve made significant progress in recovering our US infrastructure with our US data center partner," the spokesperson stated. "However, the US user experience may still have some technical issues, including when posting new content."

The company also specifically addressed user assertions that the name "Epstein" was being blocked on the platform. This name is associated with Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender and financier whose case has remained under intense scrutiny, particularly concerning the Trump administration’s handling of it. TikTok maintained that there are no platform-wide restrictions on using "Epstein" in direct messages, suggesting that any observed limitations were part of the broader technical difficulties.

The recent upheaval stems from a deal concluded last Thursday, which mandated the separation of TikTok’s US division from ByteDance. In the immediate aftermath of this transition, a significant number of American users began reporting a myriad of issues, including their new posts appearing with "zero views," a symptom that fueled speculation about deliberate content suppression.

While TikTok insists that identified platform problems are being actively resolved, California Governor Gavin Newsom has initiated an investigation into allegations that the platform has been censoring content critical of the Trump administration. Many users have reported an inability to access political commentary, including content that criticizes the recent shooting of ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis by federal agents. Newsom’s office has stated that it has received confirmed reports of TikTok suppressing content deemed critical of US President Donald Trump.

"Following TikTok’s sale to a Trump-aligned business group, our office has received reports – and independently confirmed instances – of suppressed content critical of President Trump," the California governor’s office announced on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday. Their post included a link to a user-shared screenshot from TikTok that appeared to flag a message containing the name "Epstein." Governor Newsom indicated that his office would be launching a review into this content to ascertain whether the company had violated state laws. Similar flags were reportedly seen by other US TikTok users when attempting to message individuals with the Epstein surname, according to social media posts reviewed by BBC News.

The combination of these reported issues, coupled with the perceived disappearance of certain political content from the "For You" feed and search results, has led many users to conclude that censorship is indeed occurring. The new US entity is being managed by a consortium of investors, notably including Oracle, a cloud computing giant and TikTok US’s sole data center partner. Oracle is chaired by Larry Ellison, a prominent Republican donor and a long-standing ally of Donald Trump. Other stakeholders in the US business include US firm Silver Lake and Emirati investor MGX, with ByteDance retaining a 19.9% stake. Adding to the network of influential figures, Michael Dell, founder of Dell Computer Corp and a Trump donor, is also an investor in TikTok US.

The concerns about censorship have resonated with some public figures. Actress Meg Stalter, known for her role in "Hacks," announced on Instagram on Sunday that she had deleted her TikTok account, citing fears that the app was "under new ownership and we are being completely censored and monitored." Similar sentiments have been widely expressed across social media platforms, with numerous US users questioning the future viability of the app post-acquisition. Comments such as "Seems like TikTok might be dead after the US purchase" reflect a growing sentiment of unease.

The technical difficulties experienced by US users have been ongoing since Sunday, with many taking to social media to report their frustrations. Downdetector, a platform outage monitoring service, reported receiving 663,061 issue reports from US TikTok users between Saturday and Monday. Users have described the app as "extremely slow," showing outdated videos, failing to deliver accurate search results, and experiencing general loading failures. Some users have also noted an inability to access creator monetization tools and a significant decrease in the visibility of their newly uploaded videos, with some "stuck at zero views."

TikTok’s US owner acknowledged these issues on Monday, informing users that they might encounter "multiple bugs, slower load times or timed-out requests." The company attributed these problems to a cascading systems failure triggered by a power outage at one of Oracle’s data center sites. "While the network has been recovered, the outage caused a cascading systems failure that we’ve been working to resolve together with our data centre partner," the statement read, while also seeking to reassure users that their data and content engagement remained secure. The reported issues, which also affected TikTok’s sister app CapCut, appeared to be largely confined to the United States.

As part of the agreement that allows TikTok to continue operating in the US, Oracle is tasked with inspecting and retraining a separate version of its algorithm specifically for American users. This move is intended to address concerns about data security and potential foreign influence, though the current technical disruptions and accusations of censorship cast a shadow over the platform’s future in the American market. The intricate web of investors, including those with strong political ties, further fuels the ongoing debate about the independence and integrity of content moderation on TikTok US.