How TikTok became a flashpoint in the ICE firestorm
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ICE officers and federal agents clash with a growing crowd of protesters in south Minneapolis after federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti. Photo: Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune
Censorship allegations are mounting against TikTok as users find themselves unable to locate content related to ICE raids across the country.
Why it matters: People have been congregating on social media to share information related to the Trump administration's immigration crackdown — especially concerning ICE's killing of two civilians — with suppression concerns escalating across platforms like TikTok and Facebook.
Driving the news: California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday announced a probe into whether TikTok is violating state law by "censoring Trump-critical content."
- That's as a flurry of users across TikTok reported being unable to upload videos about ICE this weekend.
- Newsom's office declined to comment further on its investigation.
According to a Wired report published on Tuesday, Meta has started blocking users from sharing links to ICE List, a website that has compiled a list of individuals it claims are Department of Homeland Security employees.
What they're saying: In addition to Newsom, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said on X on Sunday that among "threats to democracy," the alleged censorship on TikTok was "at the top of the list."
The other side: TikTok directed Axios to its Monday statement, in which the company attributed problems to a "major infrastructure issue triggered by a power outage at one of our U.S. data center partner sites."
- "You may notice multiple bugs, slower load times, or timed-out requests, including when posting new content," the company said.
- "We've made significant progress in recovering our U.S. infrastructure with our U.S. data center partner," the company added on Tuesday. "However, the U.S. user experience may still have some technical issues, including when posting new content."
- A spokesperson for TikTok also said that videos of ICE's killing of Alex Pretti in Minnesota this weekend are available on the platform and have been since Saturday.
In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson for Meta pointed Axios to a line of its privacy policy that says, "We remove content that shares, offers, or solicits personally identifiable information or other private information."
- That includes personally identifiable information such as government IDs of law enforcement, military or security personnel or residential information, the spokesperson said.
Zoom in: TikTok users also reported issues sending the word "Epstein" in direct messages, although the TikTok spokesperson denied having rules against sharing the name "Epstein" in DMs.
Between the lines: Issues posting about two Trump administration controversies that are unpopular with Americans have fueled the hashtag #TikTokCensorshop on X.
- Many users pointed to TikTok closing a deal just last week, in which the company divested its U.S. entity to a joint venture controlled by American investors.
- The spokesperson said that TikTok does not have rules against sharing Jeffrey Epstein's name in direct messages.
Flashback: Apple removed from its App Store apps that alert the presence of ICE in people's local areas, the company announced in October.
- Since President Trump began his second term, Big Tech — specifically, social media companies — has made major concessions or appeals to the president, including how (and if) they combat misinformation on their platforms.
State of play: Users have flocked to social media for information about ICE and the Trump administration's deportation moves.
- People in the U.S. are leveraging TikTok, the app Trump vowed to save because it's been friendly to him, to alert people of ICE agent sightings, Axios' Sabrina Moreno reports.
- The videos, which mostly started after the Trump administration announced the start of mass deportations last week, are being shared across the U.S., in states including Virginia, Maryland, California, North Carolina and Michigan.
By the numbers: As of Tuesday afternoon, nine of Reddit's top 20 "most popular" posts in the past week have been related to ICE, including the top two.
- In the past week, 14 of the 20 most-discussed news posts on the site were about the ICE raids or related subjects — such as Pretti and Renee Nicole Good, whom ICE killed in Minnesota.
Dominick Skinner, the creator of ICE List, told Wired that volunteers he works with across the U.S. first reported problems with posting links on Meta's platforms on Monday night.
- On Tuesday morning, WIRED verified that posting links to the site was blocked on Meta's Instagram, Facebook and Threads, but that links could still be sent on WhatsApp.
Editor's note: This story has been updated.
