Now that TikTok’s US app is under majority American ownership, a growing number of viral complaints have been heard, including what appeared to be censorship on the platform.
Since the video-sharing app started operating under the new US-led joint venture, after months of political pressure due to its Chinese ownership, users are complaining. With the current tense political environment in the US, users have accused TikTok of censoring certain political positions, as well as the word “Epstein” within direct messaging. Moreover, the app appeared to be blocking results for Trump dementia searches.
However, TikTok denies any censoring of political speech, saying the recent wave of glitches is due to a power outage at one of its data centers.
According to CNBC, messages containing the keyword “Epstein” triggered an error message, but it was unable to verify broader claims of political censorship. It confirmed that messages containing the word “Epstein” triggered an error message, but was unable to independently verify broader claims of political censorship.
When a spokesperson for the TikTok joint venture was asked about the issues, it was stated that the platform doesn’t block sharing the name “Epstein” in messages and that it is investigating why some users experience this and other problems.
The Epstein messaging issue relates to the late Jeffrey Epstein, a financier and convicted s*x offender. Since December, the Department of Justice has been releasing caches of documents relating to its investigations of Epstein. However, it has yet to release all of the so-called “Epstein files.”
Among the high-profile complaints about possible TikTok censorship, California Governor Gavin Newsom’s press office said on Tuesday in a post on X that “our office has received reports – and independently confirmed instances – of suppressed content critical of President Trump.”
″[Gavin] Newsom is launching a review of this conduct and is calling on the California Department of Justice to determine whether it violates California law,” it added.
NEW: Following TikTok’s sale to a Trump-aligned business group, our office has received reports — and independently confirmed instances — of suppressed content critical of President Trump. @CAGovernor Gavin Newsom is launching a review of this conduct and is calling on the… https://t.co/D6vQ890gO8
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) January 27, 2026
While Newsom’s office provided no evidence to support its claims, many users have posted videos that allegedly reveal the issue. Freelance journalist David Leavitt shared a post on X that went viral, a screenshot of videos on his profile that were flagged as “Ineligible for Recommendation.” Leavitt claimed TikTok had started censoring anti-Trump and anti-ICE content.
ICE, or the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, is currently running a politically charged operation in Minneapolis. This operation has led to the fatal shootings of two US citizens and the actions of ICE have led to outrage and political debate.
Shortly before Newsom made his threat, the new TikTok joint venture made an update on its X account. It stated that the company is “continuing to resolve” its major infrastructure issue.
“While the network has been recovered, the outage caused a cascading systems failure that we’ve been working to resolve with our data center partner,” the update read, while noting that some users may experience several bugs, timed-out requests and slower load times when posting new TikTok content.
Moreover, TikTok US also warned that creators might see “0” likes or views on videos, due to the current server timeouts.
When a TikTok USDS Joint Venture spokesperson was asked about recently censorship accusations, including posts about ICE, they said that videos of the Minneapolis incident are available on the platform since Saturday.
However, other TikTok users noted that direct messaging, containing the name “Epstein” failed to go through on the platforms direct messaging feature. When CNBC attempted it, an error message read, “This message may be in violation of our Community Guidelines, and has not been sent to protect our community.” Meanwhile, users were then given an option to report potential mistakes.
Last year, TikTok was facing a possible shutdown in the US after the Supreme Court upheld a law, requiring it to exit the market, unless its China-based parent company, ByteDance, divested the business. Moreover, there were other national security-related requirements.
However, Donald Trump did later issue executive orders to allow the video platform to remain online during negotiations over a divestment. On Thursday last week, TikTok advised that it had made a joint venture to keep the app operating in the US under new leadership.
With the new deal, ByteDance keeps a 19.9 percent ownership stake, while US and global investors hold 80.1 percent. Among the key investors are MGX, Oracle and Silver lake, each of which has a 15 percent stake in the business.
Oracle’s co-founder, Larry Ellison, is a prominent Trump supporter who was previously touted in January last year by the president as a potential TikTok buyer. Meanwhile, MGX is an Emirati state-owned investment firm involved in artificial intelligence technologies.
Hopefully, TikTok users will not experience errors on the app once the problem is fully resolved.
