- TikTok has faced issues with the app for US users since January 25
- Trouble followed TikTok’s U.S. spinoff into new joint venture
- TikTok says a power outage at a US data center is to blame
While the official spinoff of TikTok’s US operations into the TikTok USDS joint venture closed last week, things in the early days under this new ownership haven’t been perfect. Mainly, the platform was disrupted since yesterday, January 25, 2026, resulting in the application not working properly for many users.
I’ve experienced the feed showing older videos, stopping in the middle of content, sound not syncing, and even videos not loading completely. I’ve heard similar stories from friends using TikTok (one who saw a video post that wasn’t visible to other users) and Down Detector shows a spike that started early in the morning on January 25, 2026.
It could be that after the TikTok USDS joint venture was formalized, it is experiencing increasing difficulties as this new entity takes control of the algorithm and moves operations to new data centers. Remember, in the middle of last week, after the deal was announced, new terms and conditions were implemented for TikTok users in the United States.
The TikTok USDS Joint Venture account X (formerly Twitter) published a post today, January 26, to address the issues. “Since yesterday, we have been working to restore our services following a power outage at a US data center that affected TikTok and other apps we operate,” noting that the issues people have been experiencing were due to a power outage at a data center in the United States. These issues also correlate with a rise in reports about CapCut, the editing app owned by ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company and still part owner of the TikTok USDS Joint Venture.
The post ends with: “We are working with our data center partner to stabilize our service. We regret this outage and hope to resolve it soon.” This was posted at 10:21 a.m. ET on January 26, 2026, and as of this publication, there are still over 1,000 reports of issues with TikTok. That’s more than a normal day, but less than the nearly 8,000 reported last night.
Since yesterday we have been working to restore our services following a power outage at a US data center that affected TikTok and other applications we operate. We are working with our data center partner to stabilize our service. We regret this interruption and hope to resolve it soon.January 26, 2026
Hopefully TikTok US will be able to share a little more about what’s happening in the hours or days after this is fully resolved, but it’s been a rocky start for the platform so far. If you’re still having issues with your FYP feed, loading videos, loading comments, or just using the app in general, let us know in the comments below.
The timing of these functional issues also coincides with increased scrutiny of the new terms and conditions, specifically around how the app will collect location data and use user data for AI training, as well as the platform’s updated content moderation policies.
At the very least, let’s hope the TikTok USDS joint venture can fix these “a power outage at a data center in the United States” issues soon, so we can all get back to scrolling through the app.
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