Minnesota GOP gubernatorial candidate removed from TikTok

A Republican running for Minnesota governor was removed from TikTok following complaints that he violated the platform’s misinformation policies in his viral posts about the pandemic.

The backdrop: Scott Jensen, a former state senator whose criticisms of the government's COVID-19 response attracted national attention, had amassed more than 280,000 followers since joining the platform last month. He said his posts were viewed hundreds of thousands of times a day.

• Of note: Jensen, who appeared to be one of the nation's most-followed politicians on TikTok, told Axios that he hoped the platform would help him connect with millennials.

What he's saying: In a video posted to Twitter late Thursday, Jensen said posts criticizing a controversial "60 minutes" story about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' vaccine rollout were taken down before he was "permanently banned without explanation."

• He told Axios several earlier posts had been flagged, but that he had appealed those decisions.
• "It's really pretty confounding, but it sure feels like being canceled," he said in his video.

The other side: A TikTok spokesperson confirmed the account was removed and said Jensen's posts violated community guidelines on misinformation related to COVID-19.

• She didn't specify which posts triggered the removal.

Between the lines: The family doctor garnered large online followings — and backlash — for his past statements on COVID-19, including comments suggesting the possibility of inflated death tolls.

• A complaint challenging his medical license based on those comments was investigated and dismissed by state regulators last year.

• Jensen said he hadn't posted about COVID-19 or vaccines in the last 24 hours and couldn't recall if posts related to the pandemic were among those that triggered violation allegations in the past.
• "A complaint regarding [misinformation] regarding COVID-19 is so broad I don't know how to respond," he told Axios in a text. "It seems like anything that goes against the conventional mainstream might be construed as misinformation."

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This post has been updated with additional comments.