UpScrolled, a Palestinian-founded social platform that blends short video, editing tools, and text posts, has erupted into public view after users accused TikTok of quietly burying content critical of U.S. immigration enforcement. The app’s rapid climb into the upper tier of Apple’s App Store charts has turned a niche project into a flashpoint in the debate over who controls political speech online. At the center is a simple promise that has resonated with frustrated creators: a feed where posts about Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other sensitive topics are not throttled by opaque algorithms.
The surge comes at a volatile moment for TikTok, which is under new U.S. ownership and facing a wave of distrust from creators who see their reach shrinking on politically charged videos. UpScrolled is positioning itself as the place those users can go when they no longer believe the biggest platforms will show their work to anyone at all.
From fringe experiment to top App Store contender
UpScrolled’s breakout did not happen in a vacuum, it followed a cascade of complaints that TikTok was muting criticism of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other U.S. institutions. Users who said their clips about ICE raids, detention centers, or broader immigration policy were disappearing from “For You” feeds began pointing followers toward a new home, and within days the app had climbed into the top ten free apps on Apple’s App Store. That ranking, which put a previously obscure startup alongside the biggest names in mobile software, signaled that the backlash against TikTok was translating into concrete user behavior.
The momentum has been reinforced by a broader reshuffling of TikTok’s ownership, after its U.S. operations were taken over by a group of American investors and corporations, a shift that left many creators wary of increased political pressure on moderation. Reporting on UpScrolled’s ascent notes that the app is explicitly marketed as a Palestinian-founded alternative to TikTok and other giants, and that its pitch is rooted in resisting the kind of content controls that critics associate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, often abbreviated as ICE. In that context, the app’s rise into the App Store’s upper ranks looks less like a fluke and more like a referendum on how much control users are willing to cede to entrenched platforms.
The censorship allegations driving users away from TikTok
The spark for UpScrolled’s growth has been a wave of allegations that TikTok is suppressing content that criticizes President Donald Trump, references ICE operations, or touches on other politically explosive topics. Some creators say videos that mention Immigration and Customs Enforcement or even figures like Jeffrey Epstein are quietly removed from recommendations or receive sudden drops in engagement, a pattern that has fueled claims of targeted censoring. For creators whose livelihoods depend on consistent reach, the perception that political speech is being quietly downgraded is enough to send them searching for alternatives.
Those suspicions intensified as TikTok’s U.S. business shifted into the hands of domestic investors and companies, including technology firms that already work closely with government agencies. Critics argue that such ties make it more likely that videos about ICE or other controversial policies will be flagged as reputational risks and buried by recommendation systems, even if they do not violate written rules. One analysis of the backlash notes that users are not just angry about takedowns, they are furious about what they describe as “shadowbanning” and hiding content behind algorithms that no one outside the company can inspect.
A Palestinian-Australian founder and a promise of “transparent tech”
UpScrolled’s origins are central to its appeal. The app was founded in 2025 by Issam Hijazi, a Palestinian-Australian developer who has framed the project as a response to years of feeling that Palestinian perspectives were sidelined on major platforms. Biographical details show that Issam Hijazi previously worked for large enterprise technology companies such as IBM and Oracle, experience that gave him a close-up view of how data infrastructure and moderation tools are built. He has said he wanted to create a space where activists, particularly those focused on Palestine, could organize without fearing that their posts would be quietly throttled.
Hijazi, who is described as a Palestine origin, Australia-based entrepreneur, has been explicit that UpScrolled is meant to counter what he sees as systemic bias in dominant social media companies. Coverage of the app’s early days notes that it was launched in 2025 by Hijazi with a pledge to give marginalized creators “a chance to be seen,” and that it has been embraced by pro-Palestinian users who feel their content is routinely flagged or downranked elsewhere. One report describes UpScrolled as founded in 2025 by Palestine origin, Australia-based Issam Hijazi, and emphasizes that the app is marketed as an explicit alternative to platforms that critics say have normalized political censorship.
How UpScrolled works and why creators say it feels different
Functionally, UpScrolled looks familiar: users can upload short-form videos, edit clips with in-app tools, and share text posts, all inside a vertically scrolling feed. What sets it apart, at least in its own marketing, is a moderation philosophy that is framed as “transparent tech,” with clear rules against harassment or incitement but no special treatment for political topics. The platform’s own materials stress that it will remove anything intended to cause harm but will not demote lawful speech about governments or security agencies, a stance echoed in reporting that describes how UpScrolled works and the boundaries it sets.
That positioning has resonated with users who say they are exhausted by the feeling that their reach can vanish overnight for reasons no one will explain. New social media apps often promise to fix what the incumbents got wrong, but UpScrolled’s pitch is unusually specific: it calls out the “black box” of algorithmic feeds and pledges not to penalize posts simply because they are critical of state power. One analysis of new social media apps notes that UpScrolled’s website explicitly promises not to suppress content based on political viewpoints, a line that directly targets the grievances driving users away from TikTok.
Downloads spike as disgruntled TikTok users look for a haven
The numbers behind UpScrolled’s rise are still modest compared with TikTok’s scale, but they are striking for a young platform. Marketing intelligence firm Sensor Tower has estimated that the app has been downloaded approximately 400,000 times in a short window, with much of that activity clustered in the United States. Another report, citing internal figures, says UpScrolled had reached 1 million users after TikTok’s U.S. deal, underscoring how quickly a backlash can translate into real adoption when creators move in concert. One account of the TikTok deal’s fallout notes that the arrangement helped fuel the rise of a Palestinian activism-focused app that had reached 1 million users.
As those users arrived, UpScrolled’s ranking in Apple’s marketplace climbed rapidly, with one account noting that it hit No. 2 among free apps in the App Store on a Wednesday, and another placing it at No. 9 earlier in the same week. Separate coverage describes how TikTok competitor UpScrolled has surged up Apple’s App Store rankings after users began turning to the platform en masse, with some analysts predicting it could climb further within 12 to 24 hours. A technical breakdown notes that the app, available on both iOS and Android, has been grappling with a surge of new users but is racing to scale its infrastructure to keep up.
More from Morning Overview