TikTok crashes in the US. Will UpScrolled Make the Algorithm Great Again?

TikTok users in the US are canceling their subscriptions following a change of ownership and a new privacy policy set by the Trump administration. Will it be Australia? Scroll Up save the day, Joshua Barnett asking?

TikTok has more than 180 million monthly users in the United States. But according to CNN and other sources, there has been a 150% increase in daily cancellations as users were forced to accept new terms last week.

The new privacy policy follows the announcement of TikTok’s new ownership consortium, openly backed by Donald Trump and led by Oracle, the domain of vocal supporter of Israel Larry Ellison. Accordingly wiredTikTok is now collecting more data about its users, including their precise location.

There is new leadership clearly pointed out They will limit accounts critical of Zionism, narrowing their reach while also promoting pro-Israel content.

While users give up the fight, Benjamin Netanyahu chooses to join the fight.

🇮🇱 Netanyahu: ‘We will win the social media war’

“Social media is the new battlefield.

This is where we must respond with our own weapons.

We’re late to the game.

But we will win this war because we are developing ways to combat it.”pic.twitter.com/Fb9LjD11J1

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) January 26, 2026

Enter UpScrolled

Of course, it’s not just TikTok. Social Media users everywhere are questioning the way social media companies collect data and manipulate their feeds and aren’t transparent enough about how everything works. Concerns that social media newcomer UpScrolled wants to address.

UpScrolled is operated by Recursive Methods Pty Ltd, registered in NSW on 28 June 2021, with Issam Hijazi listed as director and secretary. Their apps are available on Apple and Android platforms and are currently downloaded approximately 15,000 times a day.

According to the app’s FAQ, UpScrolled is privately funded by a small group of individual investors who share the same mission and values ​​as founder Issam Hijazi; There is currently no corporate, government or venture capital ownership. The platform also states that funding does not create editorial influence on content, data or product decisions.

UpScrolled is promoting something the big platforms can’t touch: a social media feed built on visible rules, not a black box like we’re used to from Google and Meta. It promises an uncensored app with a roadmap designed with user experience in mind, rather than maximizing shareholder value.

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A transparent algorithm?

Shift Up (current value) unusually from the front about how their feed works. They say it’s theirs.’‘Followed post’ completely chronological, no remixing, ‘Discovery arc’ It’s sorted by likes, comments, and reshares, with a time delay to favor newer posts plus a small element of randomness so smaller accounts can be seen.

AI content is an optional opt-in feature, rather than a reiteration of the AI ​​trends touted by Meta and Google.

Their roadmap appears to have the user in mind, including web and desktop versions, community-written context notes to add sources and background to controversial posts, and monetization tools aimed at creators rather than just advertisers. Private messaging encryption and clearer explanations of how new features affect rankings are also marked.

How do they make money?

UpScrolled’s FAQIt states that the platform plans to generate revenue through future creative monetization tools, including carefully controlled in-app ads and payments and branded content options, rather than relying on third-party ad networks.

The company announced that it will not use Google Ads or personal data targeting and will design and manage the ads itself. App Store listings also indicate that the app contains ads and offers paid features like verification layers. Taken together, the model looks like platform-run ads and optional paid features, not a system like Elon Musk’s X where users pay to artificially increase reach.

No Google Ads. No third party tracking. No targeting based on personal data.

Censorship and hate speech

UpScrolled positions itself as a response to concerns about political bias and opaque moderation on larger platforms like TikTok. Its founder openly expresses his pro-Palestinian views and advocates open political discourse.

The platform says it does not censor viewpoints based on ideology, instead focusing on moderating illegal content and direct harm, and drawing a line between political speech and hate speech. How this balance is applied in practice, especially on highly polarized issues, will be an important test of free speech claims.

“We do not censor ideas. But we do enforce a standard that ensures the platform remains safe, respectful and accountable for all users.”

Avoiding incest?

The track record of social platforms ends here. In Cory Doctorow’s eponymous slide, many of them start by serving users, then drift to advertisers and partners, and then squeeze everyone else as network effects set in. shitification. Even “good” alternatives face this pressure. Bluesky has established credibility with protocol-level identity and domain-based identifiers, but is now developing paid subscriptions and promising they won’t impact access.

The question is whether Upscrolled can cover the costs of infrastructure, marketing, distribution, and moderation without falling back on competitors’ tactics like paid outreach, Google tracking ads, engagement farming, and rage baiting.

UpScrolled enters a field filled with platforms promising openness before commercial interests take over. Whether transparent rules can prove to remain transparent when it comes to money, moderation pressure and scale is the real question. We have forwarded these issues to the founder and will update with his response.

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