Oracle has said that recent issues faced by U.S. users of TikTok were caused by a temporary weather-related power outage at one of its data centers, pushing back against claims that the problems were linked to political content suppression.
In a statement on Tuesday, Oracle spokesperson Michael Egbert confirmed that a data center was affected over the weekend by severe winter weather that swept across large parts of the United States. The outage, he said, disrupted TikTok’s services and led to technical problems that some users are still experiencing.
“The challenges U.S. TikTok users may be experiencing are the result of technical issues that followed the power outage, which Oracle and TikTok are working to quickly resolve,” Egbert said, adding that restoration efforts are ongoing.
The explanation comes after California Governor Gavin Newsom suggested the disruptions may be connected to censorship. On Monday, Newsom announced that his office had launched a review into whether TikTok’s content moderation practices violated state law, citing reports of suppressed content critical of President Donald Trump following TikTok’s recent ownership restructuring.
TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, last week finalized a deal to create a majority U.S.-owned entity, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, in a move aimed at avoiding a nationwide ban. The deal was welcomed by President Trump and is designed to secure U.S. user data and address long-standing national security concerns.
Under the agreement, Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based investment company MGX will each hold a 15% stake, while U.S. and global investors collectively control 80.1% of the venture. ByteDance retains a 19.9% ownership share.
The joint venture has strongly denied censorship allegations, stating that it would be “inaccurate” to suggest the user issues were anything other than confirmed technical problems. It added on Tuesday that significant progress had been made in restoring U.S. infrastructure, though some users may continue to face glitches, particularly when uploading new content.
TikTok remains a major platform in the U.S., with more than 200 million American users. President Trump, who has over 16 million followers on the app, has credited TikTok with helping him connect with voters during the 2024 election.
The latest developments mark a significant moment for TikTok, which has spent years navigating political pressure, legal challenges, and national security concerns under both the Trump and Biden administrations.
