Searches for anti-Trump content are now appearing hidden on TikTok for many users after the app came back online in the U.S.
Summary
TikTok users reported that searches for anti-Trump content, such as "Donald Trump rigged election," returned "No results found" messages in the U.S., while the same searches worked abroad.
Users demonstrated via VPNs that the restrictions seem specific to U.S. accounts, sparking accusations of censorship and claims TikTok is becoming "Trump's propaganda arm."
Some anti-Trump hashtags also appear blocked, while pro-Trump terms remain visible.
TikTok has not commented on the issue, fueling further concerns about free speech and potential political influence over the platform.
Everyone has their vices. I replaced fb with reddit over a decade ago. Never bothered with the rest of sm because it was mostly acquaintances posting boring shit and I had group chats with friends.
Now I've replaced 99% of my reddit usage with lemmy / hackernews, and lost half my friends due to the fascist propaganda sphere (anti-vaxer/sjw/trans dumb shit). It'd be really hard to abandon them entirely because I avoid most MSM (due to the overt corporate propaganda / censorship) and curating an rss feed is a-lot more effort. Dropping everything would result in becoming completely ignorant of the world.
Some kid literally burned down the office of his local representative because of a 14-hour unavailability of TikTok. If that is not cold turkey brain damage then I dunno what else is.
Will they actually move? I sincerely doubt it. Getting people to change their social media is impossible if they stake any amount of their identity on its use and, sadly, most users do. Frankly, I’d have a hard time leaving lemmy for that reason. Love this little garbage heap among the endless poison wastes of the modern internet.
Don't you think it would've happened to Twitter already? And it’s certainly not happening to something "essential" like Facebook, where it’s (for instance) the only place your grandparents are on, or the only place that most people list local used stuff on.
I don't know about TikTok I guess, but it seems integral to the lives of younger people.
Just like a lot of Americans apparently have a fetish for terrible governance. That's how I view Trump fans now to amuse myself. They're edging themselves in the corner like: "oh yeah, Daddy, break that norm!".