TikTok suffers outage as US ownership deal rolls out

Thousands of TikTok users suffered disruptions at the same time the US ownership deal was rolled out.

Thousands of TikTok users suffered disruptions at the same time the US ownership deal was rolled out.

Users across the United States and other regions complained about a widespread outage leaving them unable to load and play videos, as well as issues with uploads and feeds.

According to Downdetector, there was a spike of reports over a short period, which suggests a problem with the platform rather than connectivity.

Service seemed to be getting back on track a few hours later, but the timing has gone people talking.

The outage occurred at midnight, just as the new US ownership structure took effect, which came after discussions around national security concerns over the China-based app.

Now, the US operations for TikTok will be handled by a new entity with majority American ownership.

ByteDance – TikTok’s parent company – has a minority stake.

There is no confirmed link between the ownership situation and the outage, and TikTok is yet to issue an official statement, with the cause of the problems unclear.

The deal ended years of effort from Washington to force ByteDance to sell its US operations amid concern about national security.

It is in line with the deal that was agreed in September, when US President Donald Trump delayed the enforcement of a law that would ban the app if it wasn’t sold.

As part of the agreement, ByteDance will retain 19.9 per cent of the business, with Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX holding 15 per cent each.

Another 30.1 per cent will be held by affiliates of current ByteDance investors.

Trump revealed earlier this year that he had spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who had given the deal his seal of approval – but TikTok’s fate had been insecure because of the tension that exists between the two countries.

Alvin Graylin, a senior lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said: “TikTok has become a bargaining chip in the wider US-China relationship.

“With recent softening tensions, Beijing’s sign-off on the structure and algorithm licensing now looks less like capitulation and more like calibrated de-escalation, letting both capitals claim a win at home.”