The Global Story How the Minnesota shooting set off a TikTok censorship debate
Jan 29, 2026
Marianna Spring, BBC senior correspondent who investigates social media and moderation, breaks down TikTok’s US shakeup and the political optics around its new owners. She traces user reports of glitches, the platform’s outage explanation, and how a Minnesota shooting intensified censorship fears. The conversation spotlights how tech, politics, and trust collide online.
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TikTok’s US Spin-Off And Who Controls It
- TikTok spun off a US entity after political pressure and national-security concerns about Chinese ownership.
- The consortium includes Oracle, Silver Lake and others while ByteDance retains 19.9% ownership.
Users Saw Fewer Views After Ownership Change
- After the spin-off, U.S. users reported reduced views and problems posting, suggesting recommendation changes.
- TikTok attributed the issues to technical glitches from data infrastructure changes, not political moderation.
Specific Topics Triggered Censorship Allegations
- Users reported specific search and posting failures for topics like 'Epstein' and ICE, raising censorship concerns.
- Marianna Spring notes TikTok says moderation policies and technical migration likely explain many of the issues.