TikTok – the social media platform with hundreds of millions of U.S. users – is under fresh scrutiny after a wave of creators, public figures, and everyday users reported unusual behavior on the app. These users claim that videos critical of President Donald Trump or related to politically sensitive topics are being suppressed, blocked, or shown minimal engagement, sparking a political debate over bias and censorship on major tech platforms.
What Sparked the Controversy?
In the last week of January 2026, many users began reporting that videos addressing topics like immigration policy, law enforcement actions, or criticism of Trump’s presidency were receiving zero views, extremely low views, or were delayed in showing up in feeds – despite those posting having large followings. Some creators also reported receiving bizarre moderation warnings when attempting to send messages containing certain words.
One widely circulated screenshot – shared by Twitter/X users and reposted by Gov. Gavin Newsom – shows a TikTok message reply stating:
“This message may be in violation of our Community Guidelines, and has not been sent to protect our community. If you believe this was a mistake, let us know so we can review this along with recent messages.”
– reported when a user typed the term “epstein”.
Another screenshot shared by state Senator Scott Wiener showed one of his videos about legislation related to suing federal immigration agents sitting at zero views, compared to thousands of views on his other content, even when he edited language to try to avoid specific trigger terms like “ICE.”
Weiner writes:
“TikTok is now state-controlled media.
This morning I posted a TikTok about my legislation allowing people to sue ICE agents. It’s sitting at zero views, and I’m not the only person this is happening to.”
Newsom Launches a State Review
Today California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that his office would formally investigate whether TikTok’s content moderation practices potentially violate California law by suppressing political content – particularly criticism of Donald Trump.
In a statement on X (formerly Twitter), Newsom wrote:
“It’s time to investigate. I am launching a review into whether TikTok is violating state law by censoring Trump-critical content.”
His office said it had received reports – and independently confirmed instances – of suppressed content after TikTok’s recent sale to a group of U.S. investors aligned with Trump supporters. The office also asked the California Department of Justice to determine whether such moderation actions could breach state transparency or free expression statutes.
Context: TikTok’s Ownership Change
Just days before the controversy erupted, TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance finalized a deal creating a majority–U.S. owned entity called TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC. The move – backed by investors including Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX – was designed to address national security and privacy concerns and avert a potential nationwide ban. The shift was publicly praised by Trump himself.
However, the ownership transition has also fueled political suspicion, especially given Trump’s support for the deal and the involvement of prominent GOP-associated business leaders.
TikTok Blames Technical Issues
TikTok responded to the allegations by saying that the reported problems were caused by a power outage at a U.S. data center, which triggered a “cascading systems failure” affecting video posting, view counts, and general platform behavior. The company denied intentional suppression or any change in moderation policy, attributing bugs, slower load times, and upload errors to the outage.
In an official statement, TikTok said it had been working to restore service and fix these technical issues, and insisted it was not censoring political content.
Broader Backlash From Users and Public Figures
The situation has triggered a wide range of reactions online. Influencers, politicians, and everyday creators voiced concern that the platform was unfairly limiting voices critical of law enforcement actions or federal policy. Some users speculated that the outages and content restrictions were more than just glitches and could reflect deeper algorithmic or moderation changes under new ownership.
State Senator Scott Wiener publicly accused TikTok of becoming “state-controlled media” following the suppression of his videos, while some celebrities criticized the platform’s handling of content related to immigration enforcement.
Why TikTok’s Content Controls Have Real-World Impact
TikTok has become a major political communication platform – especially among younger demographics – and its moderation practices have consequences for how news and viewpoints circulate online. This latest controversy raises questions about:
- Algorithm transparency: How videos are recommended or suppressed in user feeds.
- Content moderation policies: What content is flagged and why.
- Political neutrality: Whether moderation decisions inadvertently favor certain political narratives.
- Regulatory oversight: How state and federal laws apply to large social platforms.
What’s Next?
The California Department of Justice review is ongoing, and TikTok’s technical team continues to address the outage-related issues affecting users. Lawmakers, creators, and digital rights advocates will likely keep watching to see whether this incident leads to broader scrutiny of TikTok’s operations, moderation systems, or legal obligations.
See Political Debate Without Filters
Curious how open, politically neutral discussion works? Check out Me We Too, a social network built on the UltimateWB platform, and explore this user’s full list of Trump 2.0 major complaints – no algorithmic filters, just transparent debate: Trump ’25 has been the worst presidency in U.S. history – scroll down the page there, to the comments section for the list.
There are lots of posts on Trump 2.0.