- TikTok appears to be censoring all anti-Trump and anti-ICE content, claims California Governor Gavin Newsom
- Newsom’s press office received reports that TikTok is suppressing content critical of Trump and is launching an official review
- Several users are reporting similar incidents, which have increased since the latest US TikTok deal was finalized just days ago
TikTok has found itself in the middle of another controversy, this time the platform is coming under fire for allegedly censoring content critical of President Donald Trump, California Governor Gavin Newsom claims.
Newsom has been outspoken about TikTok’s possible violations after his office received “reports and independently confirmed instances” revealing that TikTok may have suppressed or reviewed anti-Trump and anti-ICE content, which comes days after the platform finalized a new $14 billion deal backed by Trump.
The governor shared a post to X saying “it’s time to investigate,” followed by a post from Governor Newsom’s Press Office announcing that he is officially “launching a review of this conduct” and will “call on the California Department of Justice to determine if it violates California law.” What evidence does Newsom’s office have that TikTok is allegedly censoring this anti-Trump content?
It’s time to investigate. I’m launching a review of whether TikTok is violating state law by censoring anti-Trump content. https://t.co/AZ2mWW68xa27 January 2026
On Governor Newsom’s X account (see above), he reposted a photo shared by user @intelligentpawg showing a private TikTok DM with the word ‘Epstein’ — which could not be sent due to what TikTok says was a violation of community guidelines, the Newsom Press Office claims. Since this was shared online, several users have come forward and are reporting similar incidents to the Reddit user below.
We are being censored from r/TikTok
Although the White House and TikTok have yet to issue a statement about the possible increase in censorship, outlet Politico discovered an X-post from the TikTok USDS Joint Venture account that drew attention to recent flaws in the app. According to the statement, TikTok experienced “major infrastructure issues” as a result of a data center power outage.
An update on our work to restore and stabilize TikTok. pic.twitter.com/PZzsuFeZmj26 January 2026
Although this has been fixed, TikTok says users will likely run into temporary issues such as slower loading times and even see 0 likes and views on certain videos – but many are not convinced.
“I’m done with the app”
TikTok can blame failures and outages all it wants, and while Newsom’s claims have yet to be proven correct, TikTok is failing to convince frustrated users otherwise. And given the people behind the latest deal that has extended TikTok’s American lifespan yet again, some have a hard time pinning their censorship suspicions on error.
The biggest and most influential name behind the $14 billion deal is Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, who, in addition to being a billionaire, is a longtime supporter of Trump. This alone raised many eyebrows, and now the apparent increase in anti-Trump censorship has been blamed on TikTok’s new investors. However, it is worth remembering that this is not the first time that Ellison has contributed to a major investment in social media.
In 2022, when Elon Musk purchased what is now known as X, Ellison contributed a generous amount to ensure that Musk’s acquisition would go through. Since then, Ellison’s son has even dipped his toe in the media water and bought Paramount Global and its subsidiaries, including Paramount+, Comedy Central and CBS Network.
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