App founded by Palestinian entrepreneur enjoys uptick in users as TikTok frustration grows

UpScrolled logo

Nagham Zbeedat reports in Haaretz on 2 February 2026:

In the days following the U.S. takeover of TikTok’s American operations, a little-known app founded by a Palestinian tech entrepreneur that promises a censorship-free social media experience surged past 2.5 million users.

UpScrolled, a platform launched in June 2025 by Sydney-based tech entrepreneur Issam Hijazi, crashed twice only three days after the January 23 announcement that TikTok had finalized a deal to continue operating in the United States through a newly created U.S. entity led by pro-Israel Oracle founder Larry Ellison, private equity firm Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based investment firm MGX.

-One week after the TikTok deal was finalized, UpScrolled announced it had surpassed 1 million users and was number 1 in the Apple app store. On Sunday, the app said it had hit the 2.5 million user mark.

UpScrolled allows users to post text, photos, short videos and stories like most social networking apps, but distinguishes itself by promising no content censorship nor shadow bans – a practice in which posts from specific accounts are hidden from other users or ignored by the algorithm. In an X post, the company described itself as “a tiny team building an alternative to the platforms that stopped listening to you.”

The change in TikTok’s U.S. ownership was motivated by a U.S. law, passed during the Biden administration by bipartisan majorities, that threatened to ban TikTok’s ability to operate in the United States, citing national security concerns around the app’s Chinese parent company.

During the first week under new ownership, CNN’s Brian Stelter reported that “celebrities like Billie Eilish and ordinary TikTok users said their videos criticizing Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts were stalled in ‘review’ or were receiving shockingly few views,” including videos specifically about the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis by U.S. federal immigration officers.

Some of the app’s 200-million American users – and politicians, including California Governor Gavin Newsom – have raised the alarm over the app’s new ownership and its algorithm, in part due to Ellison’s close ties to U.S. President Donald Trump.

Users, human rights groups and the UN’s Special Rapporteur for freedom of expression have previously accused TikTok, Elon Musk’s X and Meta of restricting content related to Palestine. In December 2023, Human Rights Watch released a report accusing Meta of “systemic censorship” and “silencing voices in support of Palestine and Palestinian human rights on Instagram and Facebook.”

‘I lost family members in Gaza’
Before launching UpScrolled, Hijazi worked in software development at major technology companies. He said his decision to leave the industry coincided with the start of Israel’s war in Gaza. “I lost family members in Gaza. I didn’t want to be complicit anymore,” he told Rest of World, a nonprofit tech news site.

Issam Hijazi, the founder of UpScrolled

Hijazi described reaching a professional and moral breaking point and deciding to build an alternative platform. “I found this gap in the market, with a lot of people asking why there is no alternative to the Big Tech platforms for their content, which was getting censored,” he said. “So I thought, why don’t we build our own? I just rolled up my sleeves, and built it.”

UpScrolled is supported by Tech for Palestine, an incubator founded in December 2023 that backs technology initiatives aligned with the Palestinian cause. While that affiliation has made the platform especially attractive to pro-Palestinian users, Hijazi said the platform is intended for a broader audience. “This isn’t a Palestinian-only platform,” he told Rest of World. “It’s for anyone who wants transparency and equal treatment. If you want to speak about Palestine, or anything else, you’re free to do it.”

UpScrolled’s website says the platform prohibits certain material, including “violence,” defined as “threats, glorification of harm, or support for terrorist/violent groups,” and “harassment and hate,” which included “bullying, targeted abuse, or attacks based on race, religion, gender, sexuality, disability, or similar traits.” The platform also has an in-app reporting button to flag posts, profiles or messages.

When searching “Jews” on UpScrolled, multiple antisemitic accounts and hashtags are among the first results.  Last week, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that users are likely to see antisemitic and anti-Israel content on the app, writing that the app’s “discover page” that suggests accounts for users to follow included a post saying: “This is a safe space to openly say, I stand with Khamenei, Hezbollah, Houthis, & Hamas #ResistanceIsNotTerrorism.”

In response to a request from JTA for information on how the platform monitors hate speech, UpScrolled spokesperson Gabriella Bord said its content moderators were unable to keep up with the influx of content last week.

“We’re working with digital rights experts to grow our Trust & Safety team and are beefing up our content moderation to prevent this. We apologise to all impacted users, thank you for being part of Upscrolled,” Bord wrote in the statement.

Days later, on Monday, the discover pages still included many pro-Hamas accounts. One of them, with the handle @trend2026, shared a photo of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, with the caption: “With heroes like these, the world will be saved from the demons that rule it.”

Current location: ‘Occupied Territories of Palestine’
UpScrolled’s creation in response to how social media giants handled Israel’s controversial war in Gaza is also reflected in its geographic settings.When users select a location, Israel does not appear as an option. Cities such as Tel Aviv are listed under “Occupied Territories of Palestine,” while users may also choose “Palestine” as a location label.

While Palestinian and Arab users have driven much of the early momentum – including the exiled Egyptian actor Amr Waked and Watermelon Pictures co-founder Hamza Ali – the recent surge has also brought journalists, activists and political commentators outside the region. In the Rest of World interview, Hijazi said most of the app’s new users are based in the United States, followed by the European Union, the United Kingdom and Australia.

U.S.-based journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin wrote on X that footage from Gaza has largely disappeared from mainstream platforms, citing the killing of hundreds of journalists since October 7 and what he described as systematic content removals. “You can still find the truth on UpScrolled,” he wrote.

German-Finnish internet entrepreneur Kim Schmitz, known online as Kim Dotcom, said he had deleted TikTok following the ownership change and moved to UpScrolled. Others framed the switch as an experiment in free expression. Florida-based political commentator James Fauntleroy said he was testing whether posts about Palestinian reparations would receive broader engagement on UpScrolled than on TikTok.

Academic researcher Sulaiman Ahmed reported posting identical videos to both platforms, writing that after several hours his TikTok upload remained “processing,” while the same video on UpScrolled had received hundreds of interactions.

Despite the momentum, Hijazi cautioned against assuming long-term success. Many alternative platforms launched in response to dissatisfaction with major technology companies have failed to survive beyond an initial surge.

“I’d be lying if I said I know how this ends,” he said. “We’re figuring it out as we go.”

JTA contributed to reporting.

This article is reproduced in its entirety