UpScrolled has rapidly gained users and topped app download charts as TikTok faces backlash over alleged censorship following its US takeover.
UpScrolled, a social media app founded by Palestinian-Jordanian-Australian developer Issam Hijazi, has surged in popularity in the United States and other countries following TikTok’s recent US-backed takeover. Disgruntled users have flocked to the platform amid growing concerns about censorship of pro-Palestine content on major social media apps.
The app climbed to the top of Apple’s US App Store rankings this week, briefly crashing its servers due to a spike in new users. UpScrolled allows text, photo and short-form video posts and promotes a chronological feed, positioning itself as a mix of X and Instagram with a focus on what it calls “transparent tech.”
Hijazi said censorship and the war in Gaza pushed him to build an alternative. “I couldn’t take it any more,” he said. “I lost family members in Gaza, and I didn’t want to be complicit… I found this gap in the market… so I thought, why don’t we build our own?”