Topline
Social media app UpScrolled ranks No. 1 on Apple’s U.S. app store as of Thursday as it capitalizes on user discontent with TikTok, which has drawn allegations it is suppressing content critical of the Trump administration’s immigration raids, though TikTok blamed technical issues that caused difficulty posting.
Key Facts
UpScrolled, which supports short-form videos, video editing and text posts, among other features, is No. 1 among free apps on Apple’s app store as of Thursday, above the likes of ChatGPT, Meta’s Threads and Google Gemini.
UpScrolled’s founder Issam Hijazi said in a post on X Thursday morning the app surpassed 1 million users, a big increase from 150,000 users just a few days prior.
Users have flocked to UpScrolled amid rising discontent with TikTok, after Trump ally Larry Ellison’s Oracle and other companies took over the social media platform’s U.S. operations last week, prompting allegations that TikTok is censoring content that criticizes Trump or his administration’s immigration policies.
TikTok blamed a “power outage at a U.S. data center impacting TikTok and other apps we operate” earlier this week which made posts take longer to publish and appear on users’ feeds, following outcry from some users and top Democrats who alleged the platform was censoring content critical of the Trump administration’s immigration raids.
TikTok ranks much lower than UpScrolled on Apple’s app store, placing No. 27 on the free apps chart as of Thursday.
UpScrolled has advertised itself as a platform with “no censorship” and “no shadowbans,” and it has previously called out TikTok, Meta and X for “censoring voices, enforcing biased moderation, and hiding content behind algorithms.”
What Is Upscrolled?
UpScrolled launched in June, founded by Hijazi, who had previously worked at tech companies including IBM and Oracle. Hijazi, who is Palestinian, Jordanian and Australian, got the idea to create the app in late 2023 when “meaningful stories disappeared from feeds while misinformation thrived,” according to UpScrolled’s website. UpScrolled says it does not push any agendas, “political, commercial, or otherwise,” and that every post has a fair chance to be seen, noting there are no “shadowbans, no hidden throttling, no pay-to-play favoritism” for any posts or creators. Upscrolled says the only posts it restricts are those that violate community guidelines or contain illegal activity, hate speech, bullying or harassment.
How Does The Upscrolled Algorithm Work?
UpScrolled offers users a “following” feed, consisting of posts from people a user follows, and a “discover” feed. For the following feed, posts are ordered chronologically with “no manipulation,” UpScrolled says. On the discover feed, posts are ordered by likes, comments and reshares with a “light decay over time so fresh content rises, plus a touch of randomness” so all posts have a chance to show up on a user’s feed.
What Do We Know About Tiktok’s New Ownership?
TikTok spun off its U.S. operations into a new entity last week to avoid a ban under a 2024 federal law requiring TikTok to separate its U.S. app from Chinese company ByteDance. Among TikTok’s new owners are Oracle, co-founded by billionaire Trump ally Larry Ellison, as well as Emirati investment company MGX and California-based investment company Silver Lake. The new owners’ apparent ties to Trump have rattled some users, who are also accusing TikTok of censoring posts that are critical of Trump or Immigration and Customs Enforcement. TikTok said in a statement on X it experienced a power outage at a U.S. data center, which caused posts to take longer to publish and show up in users’ feeds. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., singer Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O’Connell and more are among those accusing TikTok of censorship, with Murphy calling it a threat to democracy in a post on X.
Further Reading
Are New Owners Censoring TikTok? Top Democrats, Influencers, Celebrities Raising Concerns (Forbes)
