TikTok US censoring Palestine, and force-promoting Israel

Since its hostile takeover by the pro-Israel Ellison billionaires, the US version of the TikTok app has begun an immediate war on pro-Palestine, anti-genocide, anti-Trump and anti-ICE speech. The platform had claimed that the sudden and complete ‘shadow-banning’ of left-wing and anti-Zionist content last weekend was a technical issue. However, reality suggests that users should immediately delete the app if they want to be able to find out real news, talk freely — or even keep their health data confidential.

It’s not just TikTok shadow banning content critical of ICE. Instagram users are reporting that they cannot share content around the proposed Jan. 30th Minnesota solidarity strike and strike content won’t show up in their feeds. This is mass censorship.

— Lee Fang (@lhfang) January 28, 2026

Users are now reporting even more specific targeting of content that might be construed as negative towards Israel and its supporters. The firm’s new CEO has also ~~admitted~~ boasted that the app now treats any negative use of the word ‘Zionist’ as hate speech:

Just a technical glitch

Experts quickly rubbished the platform’s claim that its blocking of videos related to Israel’s genocide, murders by Trump’s ICE thugs and even the mention of the name ‘Epstein’ was a technical glitch. For example, technology professor Ioana Literat told technology website Ars Technica that users were “absolutely right” to “fear” the changes:

users’ fears are absolutely justified … Even if these are technical glitches, the pattern of what’s being suppressed reveals something significant. When your ‘bug’ consistently affects anti-Trump content, Epstein references, and anti-ICE videos, you’re looking at either spectacular coincidence or systems that have been designed—whether intentionally or through embedded biases—to flag and suppress specific political content… [users’] pattern recognition isn’t paranoia, but rather digital literacy.

The app is not just blocking content supportive of Palestinians or critical of Trump or Israel. It is also forcing Israel to the top of searches within the app. Some of the videos and screenshots show Israel appearing at the top of searches for Oracle, the Ellisons’ company — which might be explained away. But others show Israel being listed at or near the top of searches for completely unrelated words:

Even more sinisterly, searching for the word “Palestine” brings up Israel first:

TikTok also appears to be censoring UpScrolled, the Palestinian-designed app that has hit the top of app charts since the TikTok Zionisation:

NEW: TikTok is censoring @realUpScrolled account now. pic.twitter.com/1y4as8QRAH

— YourFavoriteGuy (@guychristensen_) January 28, 2026

And the app is reading direct messages to block even the mention of the word ‘Epstein’, the name of the serial child-rapist, Israeli intelligence asset and “closest friend” of Donald Trump whose records the Trump regime continues to block:

Tiktok US new terms and conditions

The app’s new terms and conditions also now allow its owner to access even private direct messages to harvest information on users’ physical and mental health:

TikTok has also hired, to senior posts, a host of members of Israel’s notorious and murderous cyberspy outfit Unit 8200:

The message to readers is simple: human beings with a conscience cannot afford to use, let alone trust, the US version of TikTok. They no longer can use it to spread the word on the actions of the genocidal ethnostate, the fascist Trump regime or any other political topic that might inconvenience the powerful.

If you live in the US, delete it immediately and switch to one of the very short list of non-corporate alternatives.

Featured image via the Canary