Newsom To Probe Claims Of Trump-critical Censorship At Tiktok

SACRAMENTO, California — Gov. Gavin Newsom is reviewing whether social media platform TikTok is violating state law by censoring content critical of President Donald Trump, he announced Monday evening in an X post.

“It’s time to investigate,” Newsom said.

Newsom’s review, first reported by POLITICO, comes amid wider accusations that TikTok is flagging for review or throttling criticism of the Trump administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, just days after the platform closed a deal to avoid a U.S. ban. The agreement, backed by the White House, created a majority-American board that gives Trump allies significant sway in the short-form video app’s U.S. operations.

In a separate X post Monday, the governor’s press account said Newsom was launching the review after his office “received reports — and independently confirmed instances — of suppressed content critical of President Trump.” The post further said Newsom is “calling on the California Department of Justice to determine whether it violates California law.”

The independent confirmation involved sending a direct message on TikTok containing the word “Epstein,” in reference to now-deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of sex trafficking, the governor’s office told POLITICO. Newsom’s office alleges it returned a warning from TikTok that the message was not sent because it may violate community guidelines.

TikTok’s U.S. venture in an X post Monday attributed recent bugs to a “major infrastructure issue” caused by a power outage at one of its U.S. data center sites. It said the outage has been fixed but triggered a “cascading systems failure” that may result in slower load times, timed-out requests and engagement issues, such as receiving zero likes on a video.

Neither TikTok nor the White House immediately responded to an inquiry regarding Newsom’s announcement Monday evening.

In a statement to POLITICO, California Department of Justice spokesperson Elissa Perez said state Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office is “unable to comment on, even to confirm or deny, any potential or ongoing investigations,” but called free speech rights “a cornerstone of our democracy.”

TikTok’s $14 billion deal to establish a U.S. subsidiary last week puts Larry Ellison, a Trump ally and billionaire who co-founded tech giant Oracle, at the forefront of its new ownership scheme. Oracle is a major investor in the new enterprise. The move sparked speculation from some tech observers that the app, like Elon Musk’s X before it, could foster a rise in pro-Trump content.

But content moderation has emerged as the leading concern since TikTok landed the deal. On Monday, various users reported that TikTok appeared to be stifling content about Minneapolis ICE protests and federal agents’ fatal shooting of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti.

Some celebrities and Democratic politicians reported similar observations. California state Sen. Scott Wiener said in an X post that a TikTok video he posted Monday morning criticizing ICE and mentioning the Minneapolis shooting received zero views. When asked about Wiener’s video, a TikTok spokesperson pointed back to the X post about the data center power outage.

“Clearly, TikTok is suppressing criticisms of ICE,” Wiener, who boasts nearly 50,000 TikTok followers and said he’s never posted a video with zero engagement, told POLITICO in an interview. He argued the TikTok deal timing isn’t a coincidence, adding that “Trump wants to control everything.”

“This is a kleptocracy,” Wiener said.

Wiener deleted his original post and re-uploaded the video early Monday afternoon with mentions of ICE replaced by ice block emojis in a bid to “test” the issue. His re-uploaded video had received approximately 300 views as of Monday evening.