US TikTok users are deleting their accounts in droves, and the app’s latest policy shift is the tipping point.
What’s Actually Happening with TikTok in the US?
In the past few days, a wave of US TikTok users have publicly announced that they’re leaving the platform and deleting their accounts. This isn’t just quiet churn; people are calling it out directly on other social networks, especially Meta’s Threads.
The common thread is disappointment and discomfort with TikTok’s new policies and the direction of the platform. TikTok is no stranger to controversy in the US — it was close to being blocked early last year — but this time the backlash is coming from users themselves, not just lawmakers.
Threads Becomes the Public Uninstall Wall
If TikTok is where people scroll, Threads is where they’re venting about quitting. Several US-based creators and users have posted that they’ve fully deleted their TikTok accounts, not just uninstalled the app.
One Threads user, @bookwormshayhudr, summed up the mood bluntly: they decided to delete their TikTok account because they no longer felt safe. In their words, keeping the app didn’t feel wise or secure anymore, even though they described their time on TikTok as a fun journey up to this point.
Another user, @awesomelybrie, shared a screenshot of TikTok’s updated terms of service and policy notification. Their post framed this update as the clear breaking point and a signal that an era had ended for the platform.
These aren’t vague complaints about “vibes.” They’re direct responses to policy and ownership changes being pushed inside the app.
The Ownership Shift That Sparked the Backlash
A key source of the current anger is an ownership change. According to users citing TikTok’s updated terms, TikTok has moved under a US corporate entity. That’s a big narrative shift for an app that’s been heavily scrutinized for its Chinese ownership.
In one viral Threads post, @awesomelybrie claimed, “TikTok has officially moved ownership to a US corporate entity,” and urged others not to hit Agree on the new terms. Instead, they told people to just close the app, calling it “the end of that era.”
Another user, @barrettpall, took a harsher line, telling followers to delete TikTok immediately and tying the new ownership to political figures aligned with Donald Trump. The message was simple: if those people now control TikTok, it’s not worth staying on the platform.
The sentiment isn’t subtle — users aren’t just annoyed with UI tweaks or algorithm changes. They’re reacting to who’s perceived to be in charge of the app and what that might mean for their data and their feed.
Safety, Trust, and Why People Say They Don’t Feel “Secure”
For many of these US users, the core issue is trust. The phrase “not safe” comes up explicitly. That can mean a few things in practice: data handling, political influence, or a general discomfort with the new corporate structure behind the app.
The user who said they no longer felt it was “wise” or “safe” to keep using TikTok reflects a bigger mood shift: once people lose trust in the platform operator, no feature set or algorithmic recommendation can compensate. The new terms of service update forced users to confront that relationship again.
And unlike slow-burn privacy concerns that often get ignored, this change is happening visibly in real time, via in-app prompts, screenshots, and public posts urging others not to comply.
Sensor Tower Data: Uninstalls Are Spiking
This isn’t just anecdotal noise. Market research firm Sensor Tower reports that daily US user deletions of the TikTok app have surged.
According to their data, average daily uninstalls in the US jumped nearly 150 percent in the five days after the new policy went into effect, compared to the three days before it. That’s a massive short-term swing for an app of TikTok’s scale.
A spike like that doesn’t automatically signal a long-term collapse, but it does confirm that the backlash is real and measurable, not just a few loud posts on Threads.
What This Means for Android Users and the Social App Landscape
From an Android user’s perspective, none of this is about performance, UI latency, or feature parity. It’s about whether you’re comfortable keeping TikTok installed on your phone at all.
If you’re in the US and opening TikTok, you’re likely seeing — or about to see — prompts about updated terms and policies tied to the new corporate structure. The users who are leaving are doing so at that exact moment of friction, choosing to hit delete instead of Agree.
Other platforms are indirectly benefiting. Threads is where many of these uninstall decisions are being documented. Creators who walk away from TikTok will look for reach elsewhere: Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, or smaller short-form video platforms.
For now, though, this is less about where they’re going and more about why they’re leaving.
Should You Delete TikTok Too?
No one can answer that for you, but the pattern is clear. A subset of US users no longer trust the app under its new policies and ownership structure and are deleting their accounts entirely, not just taking a break.
If you’re on Android and still using TikTok, the practical decision point is the new terms prompt. The users quoted here see that as a hard line: they refuse to hit Agree and would rather walk away than accept the new conditions.
Others may weigh the same information and decide the reach, entertainment, or community on TikTok is still worth it. The uninstall spike shows more people are questioning that trade-off, even if they don’t all hit delete.
For now, TikTok is facing a visible trust test in one of its most important markets, and a growing chunk of its US user base is voting with the uninstall button.
Stay tuned to IntoDroid for more Android updates.
