As TikTok stumbles through a self-inflicted crisis in the United States, the chaos reveals more about American political paranoia, Donald Trump’s enduring grip on the tech world, and the dubious defenders of Israel who profit from confusion than it does about any real threat from China.
The app, now under ostensible American control thanks to a hastily assembled joint venture, claims that “recent outages and glitches are the result of a simple power failure at a data center”. Convenient, isn’t it? But the timing is too perfect to ignore. The problems erupted just as TikTok began operating under this new, politically engineered ownership structure—orchestrated under months of pressure from Washington and the Trump camp.
Now, users are reporting censorship, glitches, and outright suppression of content—especially material critical of former President Trump and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). California Governor Gavin Newsom, has jumped in, launching a review into what he calls “suppressed content.”
The irony is thick: the United States, which has long positioned itself as the “global champion of free speech”, is now the stage for a tech platform accused of censoring political dissent.
Adam Presser
Adam Presser, the new CEO of TikTok’s U.S. joint venture, has quickly established himself as a staunch pro-Israel advocate. He has publicly stated that while users can proudly identify as “Zionist,” using the term as a pejorative is now treated as hate speech on TikTok. This policy has been widely interpreted as an effort to suppress criticism of Israel and its policies, with Presser reportedly boasting that the platform uses “intelligence” from pro-Israel groups to guide its content moderation.
“Calling someone a ‘Zionist’ can now be treated as hate speech on TikTok,” he has said, a statement that has become emblematic of his hardline stance. Under his leadership, accounts that use the term critically have been banned, leading to accusations that TikTok is effectively shielding Israel from scrutiny.
“Land of the Free, Home of the Brave”
Source: CNBC
