Newsom announced he is investigating reports that TikTok is suppressing anti-Trump content days after the platform avoided a nationwide ban by ending a Trump-backed U.S. ownership deal.
“Following the sale of TikTok to a Trump-aligned business group, our office received reports, and independently confirmed cases, of suppressed content critical of President Trump,” the governor's press office said in a statement Monday night on X.
The announcement comes after a flurry of complaints online that videos critical of Trump, such as those condemning ICE's actions in Minnesota or those speaking out against the killing of Alex Pretti at the hands of federal agents, are not getting any views or have much lower view counts than normal.
American startup TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC has not publicly responded to allegations of censorship. However, the company said in a statement on Monday that it was dealing with a power outage at a US data center that was causing a “cascading systems failure.”
Among the issues the platform recommended creators be aware of were zero views or likes on videos, slower loading times, and timeout requests. According to outage tracker Downdetector, thousands of user issues were reported throughout the day on Monday.
Newsom's press office said the governor was asking the California Department of Justice to review whether the request violates state law by censoring content that is unfavorable to Trump. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Time to investigate,” Newsom wrote on X while reposting a screenshot showing a TikTok user being prevented from sending a message that says “epstein.” The screenshot reads: “This message may violate our Community Standards and was not sent to protect our community.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson told the Washington Post that the White House “is not involved in nor has it made any requests related to the moderation of TikTok content.”
Internet personality Preston Stewart, who makes informational videos on war and national security issues, said two videos he posted on Monday simply disappeared, while another video received no views despite having 1.3 million followers.
“I've seen people suggest this is a target, but from what I see, it affects all platforms and affects everyone,” Stewart wrote on X.
However, frustration continued to spread online among creators, celebrities and elected officials who felt the suppression of the view was deliberate.
State Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) declared that TikTok is “now a state-controlled media” in a statement Monday morning on X. He shared a screenshot showing that a video he posted about his legislative proposal to allow people to sue ICE agents received zero views compared to thousands of views on his regular content.
“TikTok is dead. Killed by the regime and the corrupt kleptocrats who suck at its nipple,” he wrote in an X post on Monday night, reposting another screenshot, this time showing extremely low view counts on videos recently shared by CNN.
TikTok closed a deal on Thursday to spin off its US operations into a new majority-US joint venture with investors including Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX. The $14 billion deal puts Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle and a longtime Trump supporter and donor, in a powerful position over the app's U.S. operations.
