The Media Line: Pro-Palestinian UpScrolled Is Top-Selling Social App Amid Claims of Censorship, TikTok Deal Backlash  

Pro-Palestinian UpScrolled Is Top-Selling Social App Amid Claims of Censorship, TikTok Deal Backlash   

By The Media Line Staff  

A new social media platform founded by a Palestinian critical of other platforms’ content policies surged to the top of Apple’s App Store rankings this week, as debate over antisemitism, censorship, and ownership reshapes the digital landscape.  

UpScrolled, created by Issam Hijazi, ranked second overall in App Store downloads on Wednesday behind ChatGPT and first among social networking apps. By Thursday morning, Hijazi announced the platform had reached one million users.  

“Thanks for this app. Let’s hope it continues to grow. It is terrifying how much control zionists have over all of our media. We are rapidly losing our freedoms,” wrote one user.  

The app’s rapid rise coincides with a deal by an investor group led by Larry Ellison, a firm supporter of Israel, to purchase TikTok’s US operations under pressure from US law. Major Jewish organizations, including the Jewish Federations of North America, supported the move, citing antisemitic content on TikTok as a factor driving the need for change.  

Hijazi, born in Jordan and now living in Australia, has publicly opposed both the sale and what he describes as widespread “shadow-banning” of pro-Palestinian content across major platforms. He has said that 60 members of his family died during the Gaza war and described the conflict as a turning point in his life and career.  

“I was one of those users. I was posting about what’s happening in the genocide,” Hijazi said at ArabCon in Dearborn, Michigan, in September. “I’ve got friends all over Europe, the US, and everywhere [and I was] asking them, do you see this content? They say, what content?”Hijazi added that he felt “complicit” working at big tech companies.   

Anti-Israel TikTok influencer Guy Christensen urged followers to download UpScrolled after the TikTok deal was announced, claiming the platform would offer speech without censorship or billionaire ownership shaping discourse.  

Some posts visible on UpScrolled’s “discover” page this week included explicit expressions of support for terrorists organizations. One user wrote: “This is a safe space to openly say, I stand with Khamenei, Hezbollah, Houthis, & Hamas #ResistanceIsNotTerrorism.” One user displayed an image of Hitler as their profile picture, and many posted blatantly anti-Semitic content.   

In response, UpScrolled’s website states that the platform does not permit hate speech or propaganda but promises not to quietly suppress users. “It is not free-for-all; it is a space built on dignity, accountability, and respect,” a company blog post read.