TikTok users in the United States have been deleting the app at a higher rate following the company’s announcement of a new joint venture for its U.S. operations (23/01).

According to market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, the daily average of U.S. users uninstalling TikTok increased nearly 150% over the past five days compared with the previous three months.

Last Thursday, TikTok said it had formed a joint venture to keep the video-sharing app operating in the U.S. under new American leadership, naming Adam Presser, formerly TikTok’s head of operations, as CEO.

Privacy Policy Updates Spark User Skepticism

Some users expressed concern on social media after being prompted to agree to an updated privacy policy on Thursday.

The policy outlines the types of data TikTok may collect, including sensitive information such as “your racial or ethnic origin,” “sexual life or sexual orientation,” status as transgender or nonbinary, citizenship or immigration status, and financial information.

However, this language does not appear to be new. Archived versions of the policy from August 2024 include the same provisions, suggesting the timing of the prompt influenced user reactions.

Creators Report Platform Issues

Several TikTok creators reported problems posting content in the days following the announcement.

Nadya Okamoto, a creator with over 4 million followers, said, “That’s why there is so much paranoia, because we’re all kind of looking at this platform and we just don’t know what’s happening.”

Okamoto experienced issues uploading videos for roughly 24 hours and has been continuing her content on Instagram and YouTube.

Similarly, creator Dre Ronayne, who had nearly 400,000 followers, posted on Threads, “If I can delete my biggest platform because their terms of agreement and censorship have gotten out of control, so can you!” before deleting her TikTok account on Sunday.

Technical Issues Explained by TikTok

An X account linked to the TikTok joint venture said on Monday that recent service problems were caused by a power outage at a U.S. data center.

The company wrote, “We’re working with our data center partner to stabilize our service. We’re sorry for this disruption and hope to resolve it soon.”

Competitor Apps Gain Attention

Despite the increase in deletions, TikTok’s overall active user levels in the U.S. have remained relatively flat compared with the previous week.

Meanwhile, competitor apps saw a surge in interest: Sensor Tower reported that U.S. downloads for UpScrolled increased more than tenfold, Skylight Social rose 919%, and Chinese-owned Rednote climbed 53% week over week.

PHOTO: UNSPLASH

This article was created with AI assistance.

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