Google Play has delisted UpScrolled, the “censorship-resistant” social media app founded by Issam Hijazi, following its rapid growth to over 2.5 million users and its brief stint as a top-ranked alternative to TikTok.
While the app remains available for existing users, Google has not provided a specific reason for the removal; UpScrolled’s team confirmed they are working with the Play Store for reinstatement while maintaining their commitment to unfiltered content.
This development follows the app’s rapid ascent in popularity, particularly amid concerns over content moderation on competing platforms like TikTok.
I just downloaded it from my playstore
EU, what about Google monopolies??
It’s back I am downloading it now. Good guy google with the streisand effect.
E: Oh it’s just isreal hating which is fun and all but doesn’t get anyone anywhere but a list lol
Clickbait? The developer is Palestinian/Australian, the app’s audience is global, and it’s not just Palestine-specific. So what’s up with the sensationalised title?
If anything the app is Australian, Australian made, the developers are in Australia… this is clickbait
It’s an app developed by a Palestinian which got popular because of recent increasing censorship on TikTok and Instagram against Palestine.
I’m aware. But it’s not just Palestine being censored, it’s currently anything the current U.S administration doesn’t like. So anything anti-trump/Zionist/Israel/ICE falls into this category.
I’m saying the title is misleading because it could be construed as “a social media app/platform specifically made for Palestinians”, which is what most people that haven’t heard of the app before would assume by reading the title alone.
That’s true but most of the hammer is coming down on Palestine content right now. Netanyahu publicly said the goal of the TikTok purchase was to censor for Israel and they’re pulling out all the stops. ICE content isn’t nearly as censored as Palestine content atm
Palestine is just one topic the US is bashing down. The common theme out there us US censorship and control.
The most common theme of censorship worldwide is most certainly Palestine.
Yes its all about you
And this is why, we sold have https://joinloops.org/ instead
That’s a different type of platform though. Upscrolled = insta, Loops = tiktok.
So, join Pixelfed?
I don’t see why not, if you want, why not both
No website is certainly a choice
De-listed where? It’s listed still for me.
I’m guessing it was a regional de-listment and it just wasn’t specified.
Being said, this page was enough to make me install the app, still unsure if I wanna use it or not but, I don’t wanna risk losing the ability to install the app either.
It’s back. It was gone for just a few hours it seems
This is what Google does. They censor content and keep it gone as long as there isn’t a sufficient retaliation.
It’s what they did to remove AdNauseam from their addon repository. The only difference is nobody fought back so it remains gone to this day without justifiable reason.
The more I work for tech companies the more I genuinely end up believing that stuff like this being removed is in fact just incompetence at least 50% of the time
I work in tech too, and I’m convinced almost none of these abusive tactics are the result of incompetence.
The abuse is the point. They need to constantly remind people who is in charge.
A lot of companies seem to automatically delist things that get mass reported, which makes them subject to interference by armies of paid or unpaid trolls. Hopefully the issue gets corrected but this seems to happen more and more frequently.
The devs confirmed it was delisted. Not sure what its current status is. Seeing mixed messages online so it might be regional delisting or it might have been restored.
Removed by mod
Make sure everyone checks the modlog to see how the mods are serving Israel’s interests.
It’s gotten so bad we can’t even say how bad it is.
By most of the world you probably mean what is called the West that’s actually only 14% of the world.
The West’s power and influence stretches far beyond its borders and populations.
Just like Israel.
Can you give an example? It seems their power and influence were not enough against Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Russia. They even lose their grasp on Africa. China and India don’t look like they care a tiny bit of that mythical power. So we have plenty of examples where their power does not stretch far enough, can you give an example that shows how powerful and influential the West is?
Removed by mod
Removed by mod
I don’t have any accounts on the fash friendly state-funded/corpo social platforms, but has anyone seen if the developer has made a statement online since the app got relisted?
Either way, I wouldn’t use this app at this point. Not because of anything the developer has done, rather because Google can man-in-the-middle any version of the app he submits. Might sound a little far fetched, but given the continous fealty to this administration, and Google’s deep relationships with Gov entities going back decades…
Well… why trust them to not be supplying whatever alphabet agency with user data?
No politic here!
