TikTok Loses Users Amid U.S. Takeover Of The Platform
TikTok’s American operations were recently spun off into a new entity — TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC — that is majority-owned by U.S. and global investors (including Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX), with ByteDance retaining a minority stake. This effectively shifts operational control and algorithm oversight to U.S. interests, a move designed to comply with U.S. national security laws and avoid a nationwide ban. Platform problems and disruption followed the change.
Shortly after the new ownership took effect, users in the U.S. reported outages, upload issues, and glitches that restricted functionality or slowed services. TikTok says much of this stemmed from a power outage at a U.S. data center, but critics see it as symbolically linked to the ownership transition. Backlash is tangible — many U.S. users are deleting the app.
Market-monitoring data shows a noticeable surge in TikTok uninstalls and deletions by American users, with daily U.S. deletions reportedly jumping significantly compared to recent months. This suggests some users are rejecting the platform after the takeover, even though the move was intended to save TikTok in the U.S. market.
There are allegations — including from political figures and users — that TikTok’s algorithm and moderation might now favor certain types of content or suppress others following the ownership change. California’s governor has even launched an official review into claims of content suppression. TikTok attributes observed issues to technical problems, not intentional censorship.
Some users distrust big tech and political influence on the platform’s content curation and data practices now that significant control lies with U.S. investors. This skepticism is driving part of the backlash and uninstall surge.
Service disruptions right after the ownership transition (like inability to upload videos or delayed content delivery) have frustrated creators and regular users, accelerating churn.
This shift comes after years of escalating U.S. pressure over TikTok’s Chinese ownership. A 2024 U.S. law forced TikTok’s parent company ByteDance to divest control or face a ban, laying the groundwork for this new structure. Early indicators show a measurable loss of active users or growth momentum in the U.S. compared with before, though it’s still early to quantify long-term decline.
TikTok hasn’t “lost subscribers” in a formal sense yet — major public numbers on total user drops aren’t officially released — but U.S. user deletions and dissatisfaction are spiking amid the platform’s transition into U.S. ownership, driven by both technical problems and political/ideological backlash. This represents one of the biggest shakeups in social media in years.
