Bobby Allen

Bobby Allen, NPR News.

People on social media were quick to point it out.

Since TikTok got new leadership, the word Epstein was being blocked in direct messages.

A company spokesman told NPR it's investigating what may be causing it.

Some experienced the issue, others reported that it wasn't happening.

It comes just days after a consortium of investors finalized the sale of TikTok's U.S.

business, the deal tapped Trump ally Larry Ellison's firm, Oracle.

That made many online speculate that the Epstein glitch was a top-down directive, but the company says not so.

At the same time, thousands of users have experienced videos not loading and view counts not appearing since the transition.

The company says it's a data center problem and it's working to stabilize the app.

Bobby Allen, NPR News.

If you ask social media engineers, they'll tell you algorithms are just linear algebra, a math equation deciding what you like and what you'll see more of.

But algorithm questions are now dogging TikTok, since it's now run by President Trump ally Larry Ellison's tech firm Oracle and other investors.

Will the app used by half of America now be more political, favor right-wing content, push more misinformation?

It's too early to tell, but experts say TikTok's new owners will have the ability to reshape what the app amplifies, and China isn't going away altogether.

TikTok's parent company ByteDance will retain a minority stake, and the new U.S.

entity will license a version of the Chinese algorithm for American use.

Bobby Allen in PR News.

If you ask social media engineers, they'll tell you algorithms are just linear algebra, a math equation deciding what you like and what you'll see more of.

But algorithm questions are now dogging TikTok, since it's now run by President Trump ally Larry Ellison's tech firm Oracle and other investors.