California Launches Review into TikTok Allegations of Political Content Suppression

California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced a formal review into TikTok’s content moderation practices following reports that the platform suppressed posts critical of former President Donald Trump. The governor’s office, citing user complaints and independent confirmations, has called on the California Department of Justice to determine whether TikTok violated state law. Newsom’s statement came shortly after TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, completed a deal to create a majority U.S.-owned joint venture aimed at securing American user data and averting a possible ban on the app.

TikTok responded to the allegations by attributing the suppression of content to a recent technical failure. The company said a power outage at a data center triggered a cascade of system issues, leading to bugs, slower load times, and timed-out requests for new posts — issues it is actively working to fix. A representative said it would be “inaccurate” to describe the incidents as anything other than technical problems that have been transparently acknowledged.

The review comes amid ongoing tensions surrounding TikTok’s presence in the United States, where the platform has faced scrutiny from both Republican and Democratic officials over national security and data privacy concerns. Last week’s deal will see U.S. and global investors holding an 80.1% stake in the new TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, with ByteDance retaining 19.9%, following approvals from both the U.S. and Chinese governments. President Trump, who has more than 16 million followers on TikTok and credited the platform with helping him in the 2024 election, praised the agreement.

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