Major TikTok outage hits users after ownership change in US

TikTok experienced a major outage across the United States on January 25, 2026, with thousands of users reporting they were unable to access the app, load videos, or refresh their feeds.

The disruptions began in the early hours of the day and continued into the afternoon, affecting users nationwide. DownDetector recorded a sharp spike in reports starting around 8:00 a.m. ET, with complaints peaking at over 10,000 simultaneous submissions.

The outage coincides with recent structural changes to TikTok’s operations in the United States. Reports indicate that ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, recently finalised the establishment of a separate U.S.-based entity to address ongoing regulatory concerns.

Some users and observers have speculated about a possible connection between the technical issues and the ownership transition, though TikTok has not confirmed any direct link.

Official Response and Current Status

TikTok acknowledged the issue via its official support channels, stating that engineers were actively investigating and working on a resolution. As of 2:00 p.m. ET on January 25, 2026, many users reported partial service restoration, though intermittent issues persisted for others.

The company has not provided a specific cause for the disruption. Speculation among users and some media outlets has centred on potential technical complications arising from the recent separation of U.S. operations, including data migration or infrastructure adjustments required for the new corporate structure. However, no evidence has confirmed this connection.