Beginning in January 2026, users of TikTok, a popular short-form social media platform, reported concerns of potential censorship. This timeframe was consistent with TikTok’s new ownership distribution. Some users noticed changes in the algorithm and its recommendations regarding posts about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, President Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, violence in Minneapolis and the fatal shooting of protester Alex Pretti.
The majority of stakes in TikTok’s American sector were transferred from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to American investors on Jan. 22, 2026. Though ByteDance continues to hold a 19.9% stake, the investor Oracle Corporation now oversees the data storage and algorithm infrastructure. Other major investors include Silver Lake, a tech investment company, and MGX, an AI-focused investment company. Oracle Co-Founder Larry Ellison is widely considered a supporter of Trump and collaborated with the president in early 2025 on a $500 billion AI initiative called “Stargate.” He also hosted a 2020 fundraiser for Trump’s presidential campaign. This connection fueled user concern over political influence within the app and its content.
Users cited a decrease in engagement in political videos, technical issues while publishing new content, alleged blacklisting of the word “Epstein” and less political content being recommended on the For You Page. In response, the hashtag #TikTokCensorship gained traction on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Following these reports, California Gov. Gavin Newsom initiated an investigation into the legitimacy of these claims. Researchers, including University of Cincinnati professor Jeffery Blevins and University of Virginia cybersecurity expert Chris Maurer, analyzed over 100,000 TikTok videos, comparing those published before and after the transition in ownership. Keywords that were studied included “ICE,” “Alex Pretti,” “Trump” and “Epstein.” Nonpolitical words were also analyzed as a control to observe patterns.
Results of the study concluded that there was a significant decline in new posts and engagement of all content to near zero for 24 hours on Jan. 25. These changes mirrored an American server outage reported by TikTok, and severe weather impacting several data centers, including those owned by Oracle.
Though these findings suggest that there is no concrete evidence of widespread censorship, researchers were unable to eliminate the chance of smaller-scale blacklisting or changes in the algorithm. Limited access to TikTok’s internal data and algorithm information prevented a comprehensive review of direct messages and filtering mechanisms.
TikTok has denied any changes in the algorithm related to the ownership transition. Any reports by users were attributed to power outages at its data centers, with officials assuring that the platform remains politically neutral.
The 2026 controversy, however, is not the first time the platform has been criticized for allegations of content manipulation. The company has been accused of various types of “covert content manipulation” since 2019. Leaked internal company documents in 2020 revealed that the company had previously instructed its moderators to remove content made by creators deemed conventionally “unattractive” or “poor” in order to maintain a certain aesthetic. A 2023 study by the Network Contagion Research Institute revealed that the algorithm was potentially set to remove content sensitive to the Chinese government.
However, for high school students who are increasingly utilizing TikTok as their primary source of news, these concerns pose a serious threat to digital literacy. Statistics for 2025 showed that nearly 63% of students aged 14 to 18 used the For You page as their primary source of news, even preferring it over other sources such as search engines or news outlets. Temporarily filtering certain words related to current events can lead to a skewed or sterilized view of the world for students without media literacy skills. In addition to possible misinformation, many worry that the TikTok algorithm discourages critical thinking, affecting future generations and their ability to navigate a heavily digitalized world.
