TikTok has denied claims that its new US operations are heavily monitoring what users post after thousands of people reported glitches on the video streaming platform.
In a response to the BBC, a TikTok US spokesperson reiterated an earlier statement that pointed to technical issues as the cause of problems after the US split.
We have made significant progress in restoring our US infrastructure with our US data center partner," the spokesperson said. "However, the US user experience may still experience some technical issues, including when posting new content."
They also denied claims by users that they could not use the name "Ephstein" on TikTok.
This refers to Jeffrey Epstein, a deceased convicted sex offender and financier. The Trump administration continues to scrutinize the handling of the Epstein case.
TikTok said there are no rules against sharing the name "Ephstein" in direct messages.
Last Friday, the deal was completed by splitting the US app from its Chinese parent company ByteDance.
Just a few days after it was replaced, thousands of US users began reporting problems, including "zero views" on new posts.
While TikTok said the identified issues on the platform are being addressed, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced an investigation into TikTok's claims of censoring content critical of the Trump administration.
Many also reported not seeing political posts, such as content criticizing the shooting of ICU nurse Alex Preet by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday.
Newsom's office said it had received confirmed reports of TikTok censoring content critical of President Donald Trump.
"After TikTok's sale to a Trump-affiliated business group, our office received reports - and independently confirmed cases - of TikTok censoring content critical of the US President," Newsom's office wrote on Monday on X.
His post specified a link to a post by another X user that contained a TikTok screenshot that appeared to warn a user trying to send a message saying "Ephstein."
He said Newsom "will begin looking into this content" and investigate whether the company has violated state laws.
It seems the same flag appeared for other US TikTok users when they tried to message others with the Epstein surname, according to social media posts seen by the BBC News.
Many users speculate that this, along with political content not appearing in the app's For You feed or search, could be censorship.
The new US entity is managed by an investor consortium.
They include Oracle, a cloud computing giant and the sole data center partner of TikTok US, chaired by Republican mega-donor and longtime Trump ally Larry Ellison.
Silver Lake, a US firm, and MGX, an Emirati investor, also own stakes. ByteDance retains a 19.9% stake in the US business.
Additionally, Michael Dell, founder of Dell Computer Corp, is a Trump donor and an investor in TikTok US.
Some celebrities have expressed concerns about TikTok.
Actress Meghann Staller spoke to her Instagram followers on Sunday, saying she had deleted her TikTok account because the app "was under new ownership and we were being completely censored and monitored."
Similar views were shared on social media, with many US users questioning whether the app was "made in China."
"RIP TikTok 2016-2026," one user wrote on Reddit. "It seems TikTok might be dead after the US acquisition."
US TikTok users posted problems during a widespread outage, which began on Sunday.
Downdetector, a platform outage monitor, told the BBC it had received 663,061 reports from US TikTok users between Saturday and Monday.
"So, does anyone care if my TikTok is really slow, constantly showing me old videos, not showing me what I'm actually looking for, and not loading certain things...", a X user asked on Sunday.
Some users reported not being able to see creator monetization tools in the app, others noticed that new videos they uploaded on TikTok did not have the same visibility as usual or were "stuck at zero views."
TikTok's US owner said on Monday that users may notice "multiple errors, slow loading times, or timeout requests" as it worked to resolve issues caused by an outage at one of its data center partner Oracle's sites.
"Although the network is restored, the outage caused cascading system failures that we are working together with our data center partner to resolve." it said.
The company also tried to reassure users that their data and content engagement "were safe."
As with many other problems reportedly affecting the TikTok app and its sister app CapCut on Sunday, they appear to be mostly limited to the US.
