Before Trump took over as President of the United States, the Biden administration proposed to ban TikTok. The ban was supposed to come into effect in January 2025, but Trump delayed it. Instead, he attempted to find US-based buyers for the social media platform. This created a bit of chaos as no one knew what the outcome would be. It also led to the creation of TikTok alternatives. This includes UpScrolled, which gained a lot of attention back then but is now under fire for its moderation of hate speech.
UpScrolled under fire for its hate speech moderation
According to multiple users, they claim that UpScrolled has not been able to properly moderate hate speech on its platform. These users are claiming that they are seeing usernames and hashtags that contain racial slurs, but at the same time, UpScrolled doesn’t appear to be doing anything about it.
TechCrunch confirmed this themselves. When the publication reached out to UpScrolled, the company claimed to be “actively reviewing and removing inappropriate content.” They also said that they are working to expand its moderation capacity. They also advised TechCrunch not to engage with bad-faith actors until the situation has been resolved.
However, despite their claims, accounts that had racial slurs in their name remained online. They also found content including text posts, photos, and videos with racial slurs, hate speech, and the glorification of Hitler.
In response to all this, UpScrolled founder Issam Hijazi shared a video on X. He was quoted as saying, “We are offering everyone the freedom to express and share their opinions in a healthy and respectful digital environment.”
The rise of TikTok alternatives
It’s not surprising to see a rise in TikTok alternatives. After all, in 2025, it was very unclear if TikTok would survive the US ban. The platform was essentially living on borrowed time. UpScrolled took advantage of that uncertainty, seeing more than 4 million downloads on both iOS and Android. The platform has also grown to more than 2.5 million users.
Obviously, these figures pale in comparison to TikTok, but it does show that there are users who are potentially seeking alternatives. This could be due to a variety of reasons, such as joining a platform that isn’t so crowded or finding one that isn’t as infested with AI slop.
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