TikTok creators' worst nightmares seemed to be coming true this week. Just a few days after the company announced a deal to spin off U.S. operations from TikTok's Chinese-affiliated parent company, ByteDance, some people posting political content started seeing zero views on their posts. And this attention deficit was especially stark on videos about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions in Minneapolis, some creators alleged.
For many TikTok creators, it was confirmation that the new investors were intent on doing the Trump administration's bidding. "TikTok is now state-controlled media," California state Sen. Scott Wiener (D–San Francisco) commented.
