TikTok down for some in U.S., thanks to second Oracle outage since sale

Many TikTok users across the United States are currently experiencing difficulties with the app, a situation that TikTok has linked to a malfunction at an Oracle data center. The company communicated via social media platform X, stating, "Creators may temporarily experience lags in posting content while Oracle works to resolve the issue." Reports from users on Downdetector indicate that the problems began surfacing before 9 am ET. Oracle confirmed on their own account that the outage also commenced around the same time. This incident marks another setback for TikTok, which relies heavily on Oracle's cloud services as part of an investor group that holds 80% of the TikTok USDS Joint Venture. This venture was established to adhere to U.S. national security regulations mandating that the Chinese company ByteDance divest its American TikTok operations or risk a ban in the country. The current Oracle outage is disrupting certain aspects of the TikTok experience for users in the U.S. While Oracle works to remedy the situation, TikTok has expressed gratitude for the patience of its users as they navigate these technical challenges. It is noteworthy that this is not the first time Oracle's services have faltered since the TikTok USDS Joint Venture was formed. A similar outage occurred shortly after the sale was finalized back in January, which was attributed to severe winter weather affecting one of Oracle’s major data centers. As of now, Oracle has not provided clarity on the underlying cause of this latest issue.