this post was submitted on 31 Jan 2026
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Technology

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Meet UpScrolled, the anti-censorship TikTok alternative (restofworld.org)
submitted 4 days ago by alyaza@beehaw.org to c/technology@beehaw.org
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Within hours of the deal for TikTok’s U.S. operations being announced last week, Issam Hijazi noticed a big uptick in users to his social media platform UpScrolled. That stream of disgruntled users fleeing TikTok over censorship concerns turned into a flood this week, crashing UpScrolled’s servers.

UpScrolled, launched last July, supports text posts, photos, short-form videos, stories and other features. It claims to be a platform with “no censorship” and “no shadowbans.” On Monday, it ranked among the top 10 free apps on Apple’s App Store, and No. 2 among social network apps. It hit more than 1 million users from just 40,000.

“You all showed up so fast our servers tapped out,” UpScrolled said in an Instagram post on Monday. “We’re a tiny team building an alternative to the platforms that stopped listening to you. Right now, we’re scaling and running on caffeine to keep up with what YOU started. Bear with us. We’re on it.”

UpScrolled is backed by the Tech for Palestine incubator, an advocacy project that helps fund tech initiatives to support the Palestinian cause. Hijazi, a Palestinian-Australian, spoke to Rest of World on the sidelines of a conference on Saturday.

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[–] IcedRaktajino@startrek.website 16 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

It's so common for "anti-censorship" to be code for "Nazi-friendly" that I'm immediately suspicious of any platform that uses that as a selling point.

I'm similarly suspicious, but it's not just code for "nazi-friendly" but also crackpots, maladaptives, etc. Rational people who read and say "anti-censorship" in this context know it means that it's not beholden to corporate or government interests. But everyone else seems to want to interpret that as "I can say whatever I want! How dare you mod anything I say?! Freeze-peach, y'all!"

I wish they'd pick a different term for these non-corporate alternatives, but I don't have a better suggestion to offer right now.