Users Delete TikTok After Oracle-Led U.S. Takeover
Daily average app uninstalls rose 130% from Jan. 22 to Jan. 26 amid an Oracle- and Silver Lake-led U.S. takeover, Sensor Tower said.
Overview
Sensor Tower said U.S. daily average app uninstalls rose 130% from Jan. 22 to Jan. 26 compared with the previous 30 days after President Donald Trump approved an Oracle- and Silver Lake-led acquisition that created a U.S.-based majority-owned entity.
An internal memo from TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew shows the deal gives Oracle, Silver Lake and Emirati firm MGX 15% each, affiliates of existing ByteDance investors 30.1%, and ByteDance a 19.9% stake, a structure intended to address U.S. security concerns.
A growing number of U.S. users accused the platform of censoring the word "Epstein" and anti-Trump content, while TikTok USDS Joint Venture said in a statement that a power outage at a U.S. data center partner triggered a cascading systems failure that caused posting errors and temporary zero view counts.
Downdetector recorded more than 500,000 user reports between Sunday and Monday, and Sensor Tower said daily average users rose 2% in the Jan. 22–Jan. 26 period, suggesting the uninstall spike had limited immediate effect on overall engagement.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said on X that he asked the California Department of Justice to investigate reports of suppressed content critical of President Donald Trump, a review that officials said could lead to state enforcement action.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources frame the story skeptically toward TikTok’s new US ownership, foregrounding expert warnings and user distrust. Coverage emphasizes specific incidents (the ‘Epstein’ DM errors, blocked anti‑ICE uploads), political scrutiny (Newsom’s probe), and user exodus data—using selective expert sources, evocative descriptions, and placement to suggest systemic risk to political expression.