(C) BoingBoing
This story was originally published by BoingBoing and is unaltered.
 . . . . . . . . . .



TikTok users delete app after right-wing takeover [1]

['Rob Beschizza']

Date: 2026-01-29  

If you're watching TikTok, TikTok is watching you—and that data now goes to a consortium of Trump cronies and billionaires much closer to home than the Chinese parent company that just sold it to them. Censorship is being reported by users, including a Peabody-winning Palestinian journalist, though the company claims its having datacenter problems. Users are deleting the app in significant numbers, according to a market intelligence firm. And the rest must agree to a new privacy policy.

The daily average of U.S. users deleting the TikTok app has increased nearly 150% over the past five days compared with the previous three months, market intelligence firm Sensor Tower told CNBC. Some users took to social media to voice their skepticism about the new joint venture after being prompted to agree to an updated privacy policy on Thursday.

As for the reported censorship: "An X account associated with the TikTok joint venture said on Monday that the services issue was caused by a power outage at a U.S. data center. We're working with our data center partner to stabilize our service. We're sorry for this disruption and hope to resolve it soon,"

Active user levels are not down, though, suggesting the deletions are from people who don't post. But it's been a boon for competing apps such as Upscrolled, Skylight Social and Rednote, all showing huge gains in installs the last few days, according to Sensor Tower.

Previously:

• How Tik Tok amplifies the consumerist fever dream of conspirituality

• Tik Tok shows how social media uses transphobia as a gateway to further radicalization

• Canada bans Tik Tok from operating in country, but allows the app to stay

• Tik Tok is the wasteland of pure television

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://boingboing.net/2026/01/29/tiktok-users-delete-app-after-right-wing-takeover.html

Published and (C) by BoingBoing
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/boingboing/