Fact Check: Is the US now controlling what’s posted on TikTok?
WASHINGTON, DC: Last week, a deal was concluded to split the United States division of TikTok from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. Following this, several American users began reporting problems, including seeing 'zero' views on new posts.
Amid this, a rumor circulated online claiming that the US will henceforth control everything that is posted on the content creation app. But is there any truth to this claim? Let us find out below.
Claim: US is now controlling what’s posted on TikTok
Several internet users took to the social media platform X and shared posts claiming that the US is now controlling what is being posted on TikTok.
An X user shared a screenshot of their TikTok post and wrote, "I know this is out of character for me, but I’m speaking up. I made this post (left) on my TikTok story. Less than an hour later, it was replaced with a black screen (right). TikTok is now fully censored by the U.S. government."
Similarly, another X user posted, "If you use TikTok, you need to delete your content, delete the account, and delete the app. With the dregs now owning the US version, they are now censoring politics, ICE, etc and gathering a People with millions of followers now getting zero views."
Meanwhile, one person also mentioned, "Genuinely the whole TikTok update + the switch over to the US owning it, it's absolutely cooked their gonna be using it to monitor and control what people say."
"TikTok users from outside the US, on the other hand, can still post whatever they want, including anti-ICE content," wrote another X user.
Fact Check: TikTok denies claims its new US operations are controlling what users post
The claims made in the online rumor are false, as a spokesperson for TikTok US denied the claims that the app's new US operations are controlling what users post.
Responding to a question from the BBC, the spokesperson reiterated an earlier statement pointing to technical issues being the reason for problems since it became a separate American entity last week.
"We've made significant progress in recovering our US infrastructure with our US data center partner. However, the US user experience may still have some technical issues, including when posting new content," the Spokesperson said.
Furthermore, the spokesperson also pushed back on claims that the users were not able to use the name 'Epstein' on TikTok. They added that there are no rules against sharing the name 'Epstein' in direct messages.
While the spokesperson said problems identified with the app are being addressed, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced an investigation into claims TikTok has censored content critical of the Trump administration.
Moreover, some app users also reported they were unable to see political posts, such as content criticising the shooting by federal agents of ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on January 24.
