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TikTok's new ownership was met with an immediate outcry from its US user base, as people claimed that the word 'Epstein' is being censored on the social media platform.
It was earlier this week that ownership of leading social media platform TikTok in the United States was finally confirmed after years of speculation, with a conglomerate of American owners taking over operations from Chinese company ByteDance.
While this officially prevents the app from being banned, as the new owners have full control over the algorithm alongside how data is stored and processed, it does appear to come with fresh concerns from some over potential censorship.
Many were already alarmed over the involvement of notable Trump ally Larry Ellison in the deal, especially following his successful takeover of a number of key media companies, and accusations were already being thrown around effectively from the moment the deal went live.
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While some political accounts noted that their videos were suddenly registering zero views, one of the biggest issues that appeared to affect a large number of users is the inability to say the word 'Epstein' in the app's direct messaging service.
The Epstein files are obviously an incredibly contentious and ongoing topic in US politics right now, especially regarding President Donald Trump's alleged links to the former financier, and many took this issue as direct 'censorship', including California Governor Gavin Newsom who launched an investigation into the matter.
Now, as reported by NPR, TikTok officials have announced their own inquiry into the matter, issuing a statement that potentially clears the air in addition.
Speaking to the broadcasting organization, a spokesperson for TikTok's US operations outlined: "We don't have rules against sharing the name 'Epstein' in direct messages and are investigating why some users are experiencing issues."
What is clear is that it doesn't appear to be a consistent issue, as testing from NPR revealed some accounts who were blocked from mentioning Epstein, whereas others were able to do so without issue.
This does appear to indicate that it is a technical problem, although the timing of this malfunction certainly doesn't aid the new ownership as many don't believe it to be a coincidence.
One user on Reddit indicated that "search will return results with 'Epstein' in them but clicking on them gets an error, 'something went wrong', or such. This includes accounts that have nothing to do with politics or Jeff Epstein."
Another speculated whether a controversy like this "will be enough for people to abandon the platform or if it will continue to limp along like Twitter," but that certainly remains to be seen, especially considering TikTok's overwhelming current popularity and studies referencing its addictiveness.
