TikTok Glitches Linked to US Data Center Power Outage

Users across the United States have reported persistent technical issues with TikTok since Sunday, ranging from comment loading failures to erratic behavior within the platform’s algorithm. The disruptions coincide with widespread power outages caused by severe winter storms affecting the region.

The TikTok USDS Joint Venture addressed the situation via a statement on X, identifying a power failure at a domestic data center as the root cause. “Since yesterday we’ve been working to restore our services following a power outage at a U.S. data center impacting TikTok and other apps we operate,” the company noted. The entity is currently coordinating with its data center partner to stabilize services.

Context of the Disruption

The timing of the technical glitches has fueled speculation among some users, particularly due to two concurrent events:

• Corporate Restructuring: The outages occurred shortly after the formal establishment of the TikTok USDS Joint Venture, a new entity mandated by the U.S. government to address data security concerns. Under this structure, ByteDance retains less than a 20% stake, while investors Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX each hold 15%.
• Political Unrest in Minnesota: The app malfunctioned during heightened tension following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by border patrol agents. This incident is tied to a large-scale immigration operation led by ICE, which has deployed thousands of agents in the Minneapolis area.

Some users expressed concerns regarding potential censorship when search functionality for news related to the Minneapolis events appeared limited. TikTok maintains that these difficulties are strictly technical and related to the infrastructure failure.

Privacy Policy Concerns

In addition to the service outages, users have raised questions regarding the platform’s updated privacy policy. The document includes disclosures about the collection of sensitive data, such as immigration status and sexual orientation. However, historical records indicate that much of this language was already present in previous versions of the policy, implemented to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act, rather than being a result of the recent ownership transition.

While the combination of infrastructure issues and policy scrutiny has generated significant public debate, reports from Downdetector confirm that the service impact is widespread, aligning with the broader regional power grid disruptions reported across the country.