Celebrities are removing their TikTok accounts after claiming that ICE videos are being blocked
Comedian Meg Stalter declared she was deactivating her account after a number of celebrities claimed TikTok was restricting their videos regarding ICE. She claimed the platform’s new ownership was preventing her from posting critical content about the agency.
On Sunday evening, Stalter, who gained notoriety for her breakthrough performance in “Hacks,” informed her Instagram followers that TikTok “is under new ownership and we are being completely censored and monitored.” She used an ice cube emoji to indicate that she was “unable to upload anything” about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “even after I tried to trick the page by making it look like a comedy video.”
Other public individuals, like as singer Finneas, have also alleged that their content appeared to be “shadowbanned” or that posts critical of ICE received no views or were hidden. As tensions rise around the country over government immigration enforcement efforts and widely reported shootings by federal agents, the claims have gone viral.
Claims that TikTok was suppressing content were refuted by the company’s executives. The TikTok USDS Joint Venture announced in a statement posted on its new X account on Monday that it was “working with our data center partner to stabilize our service” in response to a power loss at a U.S. data center that had impacted service. Reports state that important content is still displayed when searching for the term “ICE” on the app.
The shooting murder of Alex Pretti, a Minneapolis native, by federal immigration officers on January 24 during demonstrations against ICE operations, sparked global indignation and sparked the issue. After Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse with a valid weapons permit and no criminal history, was slain in Minneapolis, there were widespread protests and calls for federal officers to vacate the area.
The earlier shooting of Renée Good by an ICE agent on January 7 has also drawn more public attention, sparking further discussion about federal immigration enforcement strategies and accountability.
