The shutdown of TikTok in the US last night seems to be affecting users outside the country as well. There have been reports on social media from people in non-US countries who are unable to access the app, and the reasons for this are not always clear.
Some users have reported issues related to using VPNs that route traffic through the US. One user on Reddit mentioned being based in the UK, encountering a message typically shown in the US, and resolving the issue by changing their VPN location:
I got that message myself in the UK. I immediately thought to check my VPN, and once I changed it from going through Miami, TikTok worked fine.
However, this solution does not work in all cases. Another Reddit user from the UK mentioned not using a VPN but still facing access issues. They believe the problem may be related to creating their main account while in the US. Similarly, users who signed up in the US are now unable to access the app from countries like Canada, Germany, Australia, Greece, and Poland.
Some users from the UK, Canada, and Australia claim they did not create their accounts in the US and have never visited the country. There are also complaints of the app being blocked in countries like Morocco and Ireland. One user from Mozambique speculates that their account being set to the US region to bypass local laws may be the reason for losing access.
TikTok has not responded to inquiries about the issues faced by users outside the US.
