TikTok Plagued by Issues Days After U.S. Deal Avoiding Ban
TikTok users reported widespread problems with the app on January 25, and they're not thrilled about it.
Issues ranged from being unable to sign into TikTok accounts and dealing with lag to struggling with reposts, getting stuck watching videos they've already seen, and noticing their feeds look way less curated than usual.
The outage kicked off and peaked shortly before 4 a.m. Sunday, with over 36,000 reports according to Downdetector. By 2:42 p.m., that number dropped to 4,689, but plenty of users were still having problems.
The Ownership Shakeup
ByteDance, TikTok's parent company based in Beijing, finalized a deal on January 22 that restructured the company as a joint venture that's majority American-owned. It avoided a U.S. ban.
Under the deal, American and global investors—including Trump-backed players like Oracle and MGX—hold an 80.1% stake, while ByteDance keeps 19.9%.
Where Things Broke
The most reported issue is the app itself at 65%, followed by total outages at 22% and feed problems at 23%, according to Downdetector.
The TikTok website also wasn't working for some people. Trying to access the Help Center got users an error message: "Something went wrong. Try again later." Attempting to view the new terms of service at TikTok.com/legal brought up another error: "An error occurred while processing your request."
New Terms Nobody Could Read
TikTok rolled out new terms and conditions on January 22 after ByteDance agreed to the restructuring.
"We're updating our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy (both as linked) effective January 22, 2026 to reflect changes including our updated corporate entity," the TikTok website said. "By clicking below, you agree to these changes. If you are under 18, you also confirm that your parent or guardian has reviewed them with you and agreed to them."
Those links have been redirecting to errors for some users.
The updated terms double down on age restrictions keeping users under 13 from accessing the full app. They also expand TikTok's ability to target ads and track location for people who give the app permission, according to Newsweek and The New York Times.
"The revised privacy policy includes a statement that the new U.S. TikTok will share some data with TikTok's global operations to ensure that users have an 'interoperable experience,'" the NYT reported Friday, January 23.
So TikTok avoided a ban, restructured ownership, rolled out new terms, and immediately ran into technical problems that left tens of thousands of users locked out or stuck with broken feeds. Not the smooth transition anyone was hoping for. But for those who use it consistently, it beats having it shut down entirely.
Did you find this information useful? Feel free to bookmark or to post to your timeline to share with your friends.