TikTok users delete app as uninstalls jump 150% in the U.S. after joint venture

TikTok users are hitting delete at a rate the platform hasn’t seen in months.

U.S. app removals jumped nearly 150% over the past five days compared with the prior three-month average, CNBC reported, citing new data from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower. The spike followed TikTok’s announcement that its U.S. operations would move into a newly formed joint venture, a shift meant to keep the app running under American leadership.

The news comes as UpScrolled, a new social media platform that says it does not shadowban or censor users, climbed to No. 12 on Apple’s App Store rankings for free apps.

Last Thursday, TikTok said the new entity would oversee its U.S. business and named Adam Presser, previously the company’s head of operations, as the joint venture’s chief executive. The announcement triggered a wave of skepticism across social platforms, arriving just as users were prompted to accept an updated privacy policy.

U.S. TikTok App Deletions Jump Nearly 150% Following Joint Venture Shift, Sensor Tower Says

The online discussion quickly focused on the policy language describing the types of data TikTok may collect. The text references sensitive categories, including “your racial or ethnic origin” and “sexual life or sexual orientation, status as transgender or nonbinary, citizenship or immigration status, or financial information.” Posts questioning the scope of that language spread across Threads and X, fueling concern among creators and everyday users alike.

That language, though, did not originate with the joint venture. An archived version of TikTok’s privacy policy from August 2024 contains the same provisions. Even so, sentiment around the app shifted sharply after the restructuring news broke, contributing to the recent surge in uninstalls.

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

The uncertainty has not stayed confined to policy debates. Several creators reported technical issues over the past few days, including failed uploads and service interruptions. Nadya Okamoto, a TikTok creator with more than 4 million followers, said the company has offered little clarity on what the joint venture means for creators who depend on the platform for reach and income.

“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 told CNBC.

Okamoto said she was unable to upload videos for roughly 24 hours during the disruption and has continued posting content on Instagram and Google’s YouTube since then. “Online there’s a lot of conversation about — is this all coincidence or censorship, and what does this look like?” she said. “For everything to be happening at once, it is very scary.”

An X account tied to the TikTok joint venture said Monday that the service problems stemmed from a power outage at a U.S. data center. “We’re working with our data center partner to stabilize our service. We’re sorry for this disruption and hope to resolve it soon,” the account posted.

The wave of deletions has not yet translated into a meaningful decline in daily usage. Sensor Tower data shows TikTok’s U.S. active user levels holding steady compared with the previous week, suggesting many users remain on the app even as frustration grows.

Rival platforms, though, are seeing early gains. U.S. downloads for UpScrolled rose more than tenfold week over week, according to Sensor Tower. Skylight Social climbed 919%, and Chinese-owned Rednote posted a 53% increase over the same period.

TikTok did not respond to a request for comment.

For now, the joint venture meant to calm regulators has opened a new chapter of user unease, one marked by rising deletions, creator anxiety, and renewed scrutiny of how the platform handles data and trust in the U.S. market.

How To Delete Your TikTok Account

To delete a TikTok account, users can open the app, go to their profile, tap the three-line menu in the top corner, then select Settings and privacy. From there, choose Account, then Deactivate or delete account. After selecting Delete account permanently, TikTok will guide users through a confirmation process. The account enters a 30-day deactivation period before the deletion becomes permanent.