A little over a week ago, Tiktok Landed on US shores as a naturalized citizen. Since then this video app is fighting for its life.
TikTok’s cataclysmic migration began on January 22 from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. Finalized The deal is to sell the app to a group of US investors, among them business software giant Oracle. The app’s time under Chinese ownership was marked by a meteoric climb to more than a billion users, which made Instagram-like Instagram look like the next MySpace. But TikTok’s little new life in the US has been less than auspicious.
The day after TikTok’s launch, its owners changed its privacy policy to allow more extensive data collection, including tracking the exact locations of its users. The change was noted less because of any potential invasion of privacy than because of suspicion of the new owners. The updated approach is in line with other major social networks. But what do these people, including billionaire Oracle owner and Maga donor Larry Ellison, intend to do with user data? A few days later the tweaks sparked suspicions that paranoia would bloom.
In the weekend that followed TikTok’s transfer of ownership, the US witnessed two major events. A massive, frigid blizzard rocked the country and alerted about 230 million people to power outages and burst pipes. And federal immigration officials killed a 37-year-old US citizen in Minneapolis during a protest that exposed outright lies from the White House despite extensive video footage. Both took down TikTok in different ways.
Winter Storm Fern crippled multiple Oracle datacenters that TikTok relied on, although the company did not make them public at the time. The company said in a statement that the app was severely disrupted due to this. Many users said that they were unable to upload videos. Others say their videos get zero views despite having a significant following.
Meanwhile, celebrities have tried to use TikTok to express their outrage over Alex Pretty’s violent death at the hands and guns of Border Patrol agents. They find that they can’t post videos or they get zero views. In response, many users — including California state senator Scott Weiner, musician Billie Eilish and her brother, the comedian Meg Stator – TikTok has been accused of cracking down on videos critical of federal immigration agents. Stalter said he would delete his account, which had nearly 280,000 followers. The New York Times, Variety, The Independent, CNN, the Washington Post – a wide range of media outlets have picked up their arguments. Cosmopolitan magazine asked: “Is TikTok Censoring Anti-ICE Content?” Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, from Connecticut, He tweeted TikTok’s alleged censorship is a “threat to democracy”.
After days of protests online, scrutiny IRL and dozens of requests for clarification from the press, TikTok issued a Advertisement On January 26, snow, ice and cold issues are being blamed.
Oracle released a statement in more detail: “Over the weekend, the Oracle datacenter experienced a temporary weather-related power outage that affected TikTok. The challenges faced by US TikTok users are the result of technical issues that followed the power outage.” It’s unusual for a physical event like a storm to damage a major site of digital life like TikTok, as such popular apps often have backups for their backups, but it can happen.
The most powerful person to accuse TikTok of censorship is not its most famous user. The California governor is better known for his text presence on X than his TikTok. However, Gavin Newsom announced on January 27 that his office would investigate whether TikTok censored videos critical of Donald Trump, widening the scope of alleged pro-male interference by the app.
Belatedly attributing blame did little to dampen public criticism. An unknown number of users say they are decamping from TikTok in response to new American censorship. Exodus, a new competitor that promises less censorship than TikTok, has climbed to the top spot in the US Apple App Store and third place in the Google Play Store. A is upscrolled press release It now claims more than a million users. As of writing, TikTok is ranked 16th in the iPhone App Store and 10th in the Google Play Store. Along with the upscrolled in the top 10 most downloaded There are three apps that can be used to cover your online activity from surveillance called Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). The fear of digital government intrusion is in the air.
With more than a billion users worldwide, it is unlikely that TikTok will disappear completely as a result of these failures. Facebook and Instagram have endured worse scandals. TikTok’s first week in the US doesn’t bode well for its future. The app has damaged user trust, and another mistake could cause a more permanent injury.
TikTok’s week of mayhem started with Trump. The transfer of TikTok ownership completes the ban or sell deal proposed by the US president nearly six years ago and he said he was thrilled that the transfer had finally happened. In the intervening years, Trump has scaled back his support for the deal; His nemesis Joe Biden supported it during his presidency; Congress passed legislation codifying Trump’s wishes and legally forcing the sale of TikTok; And the US Supreme Court upheld the law in the face of a challenge by TikTok and overwhelming popular disapproval. Trump ordered an immigration crackdown that led to the murder of two US citizens. Trump had no hand in TikTok’s dismal week, just the wintry weather.
The disastrous arrival of TikTok marks the anniversary of a similarly perverse nature. A year and two weeks ago, the app stopped working in the US due to the same sell-or-ban law. The darkness lasted less than 24 hours. Its new owners can expect their current problems to go away soon.
