A little-known social media app has suddenly found itself overwhelmed and offline, after a wave of frustrated TikTok users jumped ship.
UpScrolled, a short-form video platform positioning itself as a transparency-first alternative to TikTok, surged in popularity this week as US users accused TikTok of censoring political content following the transfer of its American operations to Oracle, the tech giant led by Trump ally Larry Ellison. The influx was so intense that UpScrolled’s servers temporarily crashed.
The moment underscores a growing reality in the social media economy: trust, not features, now decides where users go next.
Why are TikTok users leaving the platform?
The migration began after US-based TikTok creators reported widespread disruptions on the app, including videos failing to load, unexplained algorithm changes, and alleged suppression of anti-Trump content.
Allegations of political censorship
Many users claim that since TikTok’s US operations shifted under a new ownership structure, content critical of President Donald Trump has seen reduced reach or unexplained takedowns. While these claims remain anecdotal, they spread rapidly across social platforms—fueling suspicion rather than waiting for confirmation.
The timing is key. These complaints emerged just days after TikTok finalized a deal to sell its US operations to a consortium led by Oracle, following years of pressure from Washington over national security concerns tied to ByteDance’s Chinese ownership.
TikTok and ByteDance have consistently denied those concerns.
How the TikTok–Oracle deal reshaped the platform
The deal did not emerge overnight.
A turbulent path to US ownership
- For years, US officials warned that TikTok posed a national security risk due to potential Chinese government access to user data
- In January last year, when negotiations stalled, TikTok briefly went dark in the US for 12 to 14 hours
- President Trump later extended the deadline, allowing talks to continue
- In September, the administration outlined a framework for a deal
- Last week, TikTok confirmed it had agreed to sell its US operations to an Oracle-led consortium
Oracle founder Larry Ellison is a vocal Trump supporter, a fact that has heightened skepticism among politically active users—even without evidence of direct editorial interference.
Perception, in this case, may be as powerful as policy.
Why UpScrolled became the breakout beneficiary
As TikTok users looked for alternatives, UpScrolled was waiting—though not entirely prepared.
A surge that broke the servers
UpScrolled’s official Instagram account acknowledged that demand overwhelmed its infrastructure.
“You all showed up so fast our servers tapped out,” the company wrote, adding that its small team was “scaling and running on caffeine” to keep up.
The response struck a chord with users already disillusioned by Big Tech platforms. The message framed the outage not as a failure, but as proof of grassroots momentum.
UpScrolled’s rise in the App Store charts
The numbers tell a clear story.
By the data
- UpScrolled is currently No. 2 on Apple’s US App Store Top Charts for free apps
- TikTok, by contrast, sits at No. 24
- Between Thursday (when the TikTok deal was finalized) and Saturday, UpScrolled recorded 41,000 downloads
- That represents roughly one-third of its total installs
- Total downloads to date: 140,000, with 75,000 from US users
These figures, reported by Appfigures and cited by TechCrunch, suggest a rapid behavioural shift rather than a slow drift.
What is UpScrolled, exactly?
UpScrolled is a short-form social media platform that supports:
- Short videos
- Photos
- Text posts
- Direct messaging
In other words, it mirrors many familiar social features—but pitches itself on values rather than novelty.
The platform’s stated mission
According to the company, UpScrolled was built to “empower users worldwide” and prioritize transparency, authenticity, and trust—three qualities many users feel mainstream platforms have abandoned.
That message appears to be resonating, particularly among politically engaged users who feel unheard elsewhere.
Who founded UpScrolled?
UpScrolled was founded last year by Issam Hijazi, a Palestinian-Jordanian-Australian technologist with decades of experience at major firms including IBM, Oracle, and Hitachi.
In a statement on the company’s website, Hijazi described UpScrolled as more than a competitor to TikTok or Meta.
“It’s a reimagining of what social media should be,” he said—one where creators and communities retain control, and platforms are accountable to users rather than advertisers or political interests.
What has TikTok said in response?
TikTok’s US operations have pushed back on claims of censorship.
Official response
In a post on X from a newly created account called TikTok USDS Joint Venture, the company said service disruptions were caused by a power outage at a US data center affecting TikTok and other apps.
“We’re working with our data center partner to stabilize our service,” the company said, apologizing for the disruption.
Notably, the statement did not directly address allegations of political bias or content suppression—leaving space for speculation to continue.
Why this moment matters for social media
This isn’t just about one app crashing under pressure.
A trust reckoning for platforms
The UpScrolled surge highlights several broader trends:
- Users are increasingly sensitive to perceived political interference
- Ownership structures now influence trust as much as platform policies
- Smaller platforms can scale overnight when public sentiment shifts
- Transparency is becoming a competitive advantage, not a slogan
Whether UpScrolled can sustain its growth remains an open question. But the conditions that fueled its rise—distrust, polarization, and platform fatigue—aren’t going away.
TL;DR
- US TikTok users accused the platform of censorship after its Oracle-led takeover
- Many migrated to UpScrolled, overwhelming its servers
- UpScrolled now ranks No. 2 on Apple’s US App Store free apps chart
- TikTok denies censorship, citing a data center outage
- The episode reflects a broader crisis of trust in major social platforms
