TikTok users are claiming the app has increased censorship following it’s 14-hour ban in the United States. Users are reporting that certain content, particularly posts critical of President Donald Trump, are being suppressed or blocked entirely.
Here’s what’s going on.
Red flags started to go up as a post on X (formerly Twitter) claimed TikTok was region-locking Americans from searching certain politically charged terms. The post, which garnered 4.5 million views, showed screenshots suggesting users can’t search terms like “fascism” and “Donald Trump rigged election”.
This opened the floodgates of multiple creators reporting wild experiences with the app. Damien Dread shared a moment on X: “I’m trying to repost a video criticising Trump for his anti-trans political agenda and it’s claiming I am not connected to the internet.”
Another user, Dustin Genereux, claimed phrases like “#fuckmeta”, “#fucktrump” and “#fuckelon” were being blocked, but “#fuckbiden” seemed to be unaffected.
It’s not just political content copping flak, either. Creator Giana Jarrah found herself unable to search for “vaginal health” on the app, instead being met with a “No Results” page.
According to Jarrah, the app instead showed a message which read: “This phrase may be associated with behaviour or content that violates our guidelines. Promoting a safe and positive experience is Tiktok top priority for more information. We invite you to review our community guidelines.”
Jarrah is an education creator that focuses on “educating women or anybody with female reproductive organs on their [vaginal] health and their reproductive health”.
“This is so disgusting on so many levels, and quite literally, tells me everything I need to know about this TikTok ban and this stunt that was made in the last 48 hours,” she said in one video.
“In a world where female reproductive health is already incredibly understudied… TikTok is, yet again, creating this environment of the V microbiome and V health being taboo or something that we cannot talk about, and that is disgusting.”
Jarrah used the letter V in place of the word vagina in fear of being censored further.
Jarrah has since reported that she is able to successfully search “vaginal health”. She asked a former content moderator (she did not clarify where from) why the search came back up. They explained that “the algorithm responds to trends and user behaviour”. However, users in Jarrah’s comments still claim they are unable to search “vaginal health” on their own platforms.
Other users have reported similar issues with searches for “Trump rigged election” and “Trump 10 year old girl”.
The latter search related to a video of Trump in 1992, published by CBS News in 2016. In the video, a then 46-year-old Trump can be heard asking a young girl if she’s “going up the elevator”. When she replies “yeah”, he can be heard saying “I’m going to be dating her in ten years, can you believe it?”
TikTok hasn’t responded to PEDESTRIAN.TV’s request for comment, but a spokesperson did tell NewsWeek that there have been no changes to algorithms or policies.
Still, that hasn’t stopped users from speculating about why these terms have been censored on the app, especially given TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew‘s attendance at Trump’s recent inauguration alongside other tech CEOs.
These concerns also come at a time when Meta is copping its own heat. Many Instagram users have reportedly woken up to find themselves mysteriously following Vice President JD Vance, despite never hitting the follow button themselves. Weird, right?
As the coincidences and red flags continue, TikTok users aren’t staying silent. With concerns about censorship, political content suppression, and algorithmic manipulation, it seems the battle for free expression on social media is far from over.
Lead image: Getty Images / HyndSyght
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