TikTok Accused of Censorship Under New Trump-Linked Owners

TikTok Faces Censorship Allegations After Ownership Shift

TikTok's newly established American operation is facing serious allegations of political censorship just days after coming under the control of investors with close ties to former President Donald Trump. Users across the United States have reported being unable to upload content critical of Trump administration policies, particularly videos addressing immigration enforcement and the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Technical Issues or Political Censorship?

The controversy erupted when users began experiencing difficulties posting content about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations and the Epstein scandal. According to multiple reports, videos showing ICE agents' conduct during recent protests in Minnesota were particularly affected, with some content taking hours to upload or receiving abnormally low view counts.

TikTok and its infrastructure partner Oracle have attributed the problems to technical issues. 'During the weekend, an Oracle data center experienced temporary weather-related power outages, impacting TikTok,' an Oracle spokesperson stated. TikTok echoed this explanation, citing a cascading systems failure resulting from the power outage.

Political Backlash and Investigations

California Governor Gavin Newsom, a potential Democratic presidential candidate, has launched an official investigation into the allegations. 'It's time to investigate,' Newsom announced. 'I'm initiating a review to determine whether TikTok is violating state law by censoring content critical of Trump.' His office claims to have received and independently confirmed reports of suppressed anti-Trump content.

The timing of these issues has raised eyebrows. They began shortly after TikTok completed its restructuring to create a majority American-owned joint venture. The new ownership structure gives a consortium of mainly American investors about 80% control of TikTok's U.S. operations, with ByteDance retaining the remaining 20%. Key investors include Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and Dell founder Michael Dell, both known Trump supporters and donors.

Broader Context of TikTok's U.S. Journey

This controversy represents the latest chapter in TikTok's tumultuous relationship with the U.S. government. The platform has faced years of scrutiny over national security concerns related to its Chinese ownership. The recent restructuring was designed to address these concerns by creating TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, a majority American-owned entity.

According to Wikipedia's coverage of the Trump-TikTok controversy, the platform has navigated multiple attempts at restriction, culminating in the recent ownership change that averted a potential ban.

User Reactions and Platform Impact

The allegations have sparked significant backlash from TikTok's user community. Some prominent creators, including actress Megan Stalter, have reportedly deleted their accounts in protest. Academic researchers and digital rights advocates have expressed concern about the implications for free speech on one of America's most popular social media platforms.

As the platform works to resolve the technical issues, the political scrutiny continues to intensify. With over 585,000 outage reports documented on Down Detector during the peak of the problems, the incident has highlighted both TikTok's infrastructure vulnerabilities and the complex political landscape surrounding social media content moderation in the United States.