Last week, the long-running TikTok shutdown drama appeared to wrap up. For years, there’s been lingering controversy about the app, with its future continually in doubt as deadline after deadline for it cease operating in the United States passed.
The resolution was to split off the US operation of the app, which is now being run by a new parent company, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC. This company, according to California Governor Gavin Newsom is explicitly Trump-aligned. When the administration says “jump”, they say “how high?”.
It’s time to investigate.
— Governor Gavin Newsom (@CAgovernor) January 27, 2026
I am launching a review into whether TikTok is violating state law by censoring Trump-critical content. https://t.co/AZ2mWW68xa
Users immediately noticed that things were different. Political posts that would present the Trump administration in a bad light were apparently suppressed, particularly those relating to the murder of ICU nurse Alex Pretti.
They should rename it TrumpTok
TikTok has tried to handwave this away as an “infrastructure issue”, though it’s kinda sus that this issue is apparently only affecting content that Donald Trump and his cronies don’t want you to see. But now, in what feels like proof that something fishy is afoot, even saying the word “Epstein” on the platform is blocked:
Days after the US took over majority ownership of TikTok, the word ‘Epstein’ has been censored. pic.twitter.com/fcwHiTYo9a
— grizzy (@Furbeti) January 26, 2026
This applies to DMs and posts, with hugely popular account Popbase revealing that accounts based in the United States cannot say the name “Epstein” without getting a warning that “This message may be in violation of our Community Guidelines and has not been sent to protect our community.”
Meanwhile, if they switch their location to the United Kingdom, they’re able to say “Epstein” to their heart’s content without any warning appearing.
TikTok now censors the word “Epstein” when mentioned in DMs by users in the U.S.
— Pop Base (@PopBase) January 27, 2026
Currently, the word is not being filtered for users in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world. pic.twitter.com/XA1Kye6mIq
We should underline there’s no hard evidence that the Trump adminstration has its finger on the scale and is explicitly blocking American users from discussing Jeffrey Epstein or Donald Trump’s links to him.
But, well, it certainly seems that this is the case. But hey, maybe this is all one big crazy coincidence and it’s just dumb luck that soon after the Trump administration gets its hands on TikTok you suddenly cannot discuss the one subject Donald Trump is determined that you forget.
