TikTok says its platform is back to normal in the United States after a sweeping outage that disrupted some of its most heavily used features and frustrated millions of users.

The company, now operating under a new U.S. ownership structure, confirmed that the disruption stemmed from a winter storm that knocked out power at a primary Oracle-operated data center supporting TikTok’s American operations. The outage affected tens of thousands of servers and rippled across the app’s core functions.

According to TikTok, users experienced problems posting videos, searching within the app, and seeing real-time engagement metrics such as likes and view counts. Some creators reported that their clips appeared to have zero views, raising concerns about lost momentum and income on a platform where timing and visibility are crucial.

TikTok said engineers worked with Oracle to stabilize power, restore network connectivity, and bring storage systems back online. The company emphasized that the disruption was caused by infrastructure issues triggered by severe weather, not by its recent corporate restructuring or any security incident.

The outage coincided with a pivotal moment for the company in the U.S. Regulators recently approved a deal creating a separate American entity, TikTok USDS, controlled by a consortium of U.S.-based investors holding an 80 percent stake. Chinese parent company ByteDance retains the remaining 20 percent. The move followed years of political scrutiny over data security and ownership of the popular short video app.

While TikTok worked to restore service, rival platforms saw an opportunity. Alternative short video and social apps reported spikes in downloads and user activity as creators and viewers looked for backup channels to reach their audiences. Industry analysts say such surges highlight how dependent many creators have become on a single platform and how quickly they will test competitors when that platform falters.

With service now restored, TikTok faces the dual challenge of reassuring users about the reliability of its infrastructure and proving that its new U.S. ownership model can deliver stability. For creators whose livelihoods depend on consistent reach and engagement, the episode is a reminder that even the largest platforms can be vulnerable to real-world shocks far from the screen.