Wide Deletion Wave of TikTok in America After Trump's Allies Take Control of the App

SadaNews - Recent reports have revealed a significant increase in the number of users who have deleted the "TikTok" app within the United States, following a deal in which a group of investors close to President Donald Trump acquired the app's operations in the country, according to the "Independent" newspaper.

According to data from market research firm "Sensor Tower," uninstalls of the app by American users have surged by approximately 150% since the ownership structure changed last week.

Many TikTok users have expressed concerns over potential content censorship under the new owners, especially after the app's ownership shifted from the Chinese company "ByteDance" to an investment group that includes the giant company "Oracle", led by its founder Larry Ellison, who is known for his close ties to Trump.

In this context, users indicated that videos criticizing the American president, as well as those addressing Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Minneapolis, have not received any views during the current week, while it was noted that certain words, including the name "Epstein," were blocked in private messages.

On an official level, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced his intention to open an investigation to determine whether the "TikTok" app has been censoring content since the acquisition deal was completed, which could be considered a violation of state laws.

For its part, the "TikTok" platform acknowledged that these incidents occurred, but attributed them to widespread technical issues related to its servers. A spokesperson for the company told the "Independent" that the app does not impose any restrictions on the mention of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The spokesperson added that "TikTok" has identified the fault causing these issues for some users and is currently working to address it.

In an official statement, the company clarified: "We continue to work on resolving a significant infrastructure issue that resulted from a power outage at one of the data center locations of our partners in the United States."

The statement added that user experience within the United States may continue to face some technical disruptions, especially when posting new content.

Additionally, other users expressed their concerns regarding the app's updated privacy policy, considering that it includes requests for access to sensitive information that could be used by the Trump administration against them.

In light of these concerns, competing apps to "TikTok" have seen a notable increase in download numbers, with both "Skylight" and "UpScored" experiencing a significant rise in user numbers over the past few days.