In the wake of Border Patrol's deadly shooting of VA nurse Alex Pretti, celebrities are speaking out about TikTok suppressing videos critical of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Hacks star Megan Stalter said she's leaving TikTok because she believes the social media app is censoring videos she made that were critical of ICE.
Stalter joined other celebrities who have been critical of ICE following the shooting of Pretti, the second U.S. citizen to be shot and killed by ICE agents, less than a month after the extrajudicial killing of Renee Good.
āI've tried for hours to upload the same video, and it wouldn't show it to one person,ā she wrote on her Instagram account. 'ABOLISH ICE! Delete TikTok!'
The out actress and comedian wrote on her Instagram account that she will be ādownloading and deletingā her TikTok account because the app āis under new ownership and we are being completely censored and monitored.ā
Stalter also pointed out that TikTokās latest update to its privacy policy, since being bought by an investor group headed by Trump ally and Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, allows the social media site to collect sensitive information about its users, including their āsexual life or sexual orientation, status as transgender or nonbinary, citizenship or immigration status.ā
But according to TechCrunch, this language has been included in the privacy policy since Aug. 2024, and wasnāt changed in response to the Trump administrationās latest escalation of immigration enforcement, and is āprimarily there to comply with state privacy laws like Californiaās Consumer Privacy Act.ā
Stalter isnāt the only celebrity who TikTok has allegedly been suppressing or shadow-banning ā the stealthy restriction of a creatorās content so that it becomes less visible to social media users and followers. Pop star Billie Eilish has also claimed her brother, singer-songwriter Finneas, has had his video calling out ICE suppressed on TikTok.
In her Instagram Stories, Eilish posted a screenshot of Finneasā anti-ICE TikTok video that showed him only having 114 likes, writing that āTikTok is silencing people btw.ā
However, less than 24 hours later, the video where Finneas said Pretti āwas being beaten to a pulp on the ground, he didnāt draw his weapon. He had a weapon on him legally. And they shot the f**k out of him,ā has more than 220,000 views and over 70,000 likes on TikTok.
Itās unclear if TikTok is censoring celebrities who are speaking out against the actions of ICE in Minneapolis, but footage of Pretti being shot by Border Patrol agents is still available on the app, where you can also find commentary about the shooting from political content creators and reports from news organizations.
PRIDE contacted Megan Stalter and Finneas, but neither immediately responded to a request for comments.
