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TikTok US Outage Triggers “Epstein” DM Blocks and Visibility Complaints, Prompting California Inquiry

The company denies political censorship, citing a data‑center failure as the cause of inconsistent errors.

Overview

  • Users and newsroom tests reported that direct messages containing the word “Epstein” were intermittently blocked, though TikTok says no policy prohibits the term and it is investigating.
  • Creators and politicians described sharply reduced reach for posts on ICE raids and Minneapolis shootings, with some uploads showing zero views before later recovering.
  • California Governor Gavin Newsom initiated an official review to assess whether Trump‑critical content was suppressed and whether state transparency rules were violated.
  • Independent trackers logged large U.S. outages affecting feeds, uploads and DMs, as TikTok’s new U.S. operators linked problems to a cascading data‑center failure.
  • TikTok’s U.S. unit was recently shifted into a majority‑American joint venture led by investors including Oracle’s Larry Ellison, while Sensor Tower data cited by CNBC showed a spike in U.S. app deletions of about 150 percent.