California Governor Gavin Newsom has accused TikTok of suppressing content critical of Donald Trump, initiating a review to determine if the platform’s content moderation practices violate state law.
TikTok, in response, attributed the issues to a “systems failure”.
The accusation follows last week’s finalization of a deal by TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to establish a majority US-owned joint venture.
This new entity aims to secure US data and avert a ban on the popular short-video app, a move that was praised by Mr Trump.
ByteDance stated that TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC would safeguard US user data, applications, and algorithms through enhanced data privacy and cybersecurity measures.
“Following TikTok’s sale to a Trump-aligned business group, our office has received reports, and independently confirmed instances, of suppressed content critical of President Trump,” Newsom’s office announced on X, without providing further details.
“Gavin Newsom is launching a review of this conduct and is calling on the California Department of Justice to determine whether it violates California law,” the statement added.
A TikTok representative pointed to a previous statement, attributing the problems to a data centre power outage.
“It would be inaccurate to report that this is anything but the technical issues we’ve transparently confirmed,” the representative said.
The joint venture explained that users might experience bugs, slower load times, or timed-out requests when posting new content due to the outage’s impact.
“While the network has been recovered, the outage caused a cascading systems failure that we’ve been working to resolve,” it stated on X prior to Mr Newsom’s remarks.
The recent deal marks a significant moment for TikTok, which has faced years of scrutiny from the US government over national security and privacy concerns under both Mr Trump and President Joe Biden.
Mr Newsom, a Democrat, and Mr Trump, a Republican, have a history of mutual criticism. Mr Trump, who boasts over 16 million followers on his personal TikTok account, has previously credited the app with aiding his 2024 election campaign.
Under the terms of the deal, American and global investors will hold 80.1 per cent of the venture, with ByteDance retaining 19.9 per cent.
Cloud computing giant Oracle, private equity group Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based investment firm MGX will each hold a 15 per cent stake as managing investors.
A White House official confirmed that both the US and Chinese governments had approved the agreement.
