TikTok’s Biggest Problems: What’s Real vs. Fake News
▼ Summary
– The reported issues with TikTok are due to a power outage at a data center, not censorship as some rumors have suggested.
– Social media rumors incorrectly claimed the glitches were targeting content about anti-ICE protests or Jeffrey Epstein.
– The technical problems have broadly affected various features, blocking videos and messages across the service.
– The issues began shortly after Oracle and its partners took over ownership of TikTok’s US operations.
– Specific malfunctions include an unreliable “For You” page algorithm and failures in loading comments or publishing new videos.
Technical issues stemming from a data center power outage are the primary cause of the recent TikTok service disruptions, not the censorship rumors that have spread across other social platforms. The company’s US Data Security (USDS) team confirmed the outage, which began impacting users early Sunday morning. This timing coincides closely with the platform’s operational transition under its new ownership structure involving Oracle. The problems have manifested as a widespread breakdown in core features, affecting users indiscriminately regardless of content.
The glitches have made the app’s signature For You page algorithm unreliable, disrupting the personalized content feed that is central to the user experience. Basic functions like posting new videos, viewing comments, and sending messages have been failing or loading exceptionally slowly. These technical failures have blocked all varieties of content, contradicting specific online claims that the issues were a targeted effort to suppress discussions around topics like anti-ICE protests or Jeffrey Epstein. Misinformation regarding the outage’s cause has been amplified, even being reshared by prominent figures, illustrating how quickly unverified claims can circulate.
TikTok’s USDS unit is actively working to resolve the infrastructure problem. The service disruptions began just a couple of days after Oracle and its partners assumed greater operational responsibilities, though the company attributes the failure specifically to the power outage at one of its data centers. For many creators and everyday users, the inability to reliably publish or interact with content has highlighted the platform’s technical fragility during this transitional period. The incident underscores the challenge of managing public perception during a widespread service failure, where technical explanations often compete with more sensational, but unfounded, narratives of intentional suppression.
(Source: The Verge)
