Concerns Mount Over Alleged Censorship on TikTok Amid 'Technical Errors'

TikTok claims that recent disruptions affecting uploads of anti-ICE videos and direct messages mentioning Jeffrey Epstein are due to technical errors, not an intentional shift to censor content critical of Donald Trump, following the app's takeover by US owners he selected last week.

However, experts argue that users have valid reasons to be concerned about potential censorship, regardless of whether technical issues are responsible.

Ioana Literat, an associate professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, has been researching TikTok's political dynamics since the app gained traction in the US in 2018. She told Ars that users’ concerns about censorship are “absolutely justified” and explained why attributing the issues solely to bugs is insufficient.

“Even if these are technical glitches, the pattern of what’s being suppressed reveals something significant,” Literat said. “When your ‘bug’ consistently affects anti-Trump content, Epstein references, and anti-ICE videos, you're looking at either an extraordinary coincidence or systems designed—intentionally or through embedded biases—to flag and suppress specific political content.”

Literat noted that TikTok users are astute, suggesting that what some portray as paranoia regarding the app’s bugs is actually rooted in their “digital literacy.”

“They’ve watched Instagram suppress Palestine content, seen Twitter's changes under Musk, and experienced shadow-banning and algorithmic suppression, including on TikTok prior to this,” Literat said. “So, their pattern recognition isn’t paranoia, but rather digital literacy.”

Casey Fiesler, an associate professor specializing in technology ethics and internet law at the University of Colorado, Boulder, concurred that the “bugs” narrative fails to adequately address user concerns. She told CNN that TikTok risks eroding user trust as long as these issues continue to tarnish the app's reputation.