TikTok, accusations of censorship on videos against Ice after the death of Alex Pretti

The death of Alex Pretti, a nurse killed in Minneapolis by a federal agent during one of many immigration-related operations, has ignited a new front of controversy in the United States: that between political content, social platforms and trust in algorithms.

Over the weekend, in fact, several American users reported difficulties in posting videos on TikTok that were critical of the operations conducted by ICE, the federal immigration agency that has been at the centre of much criticism in recent weeks for the manner of their interventions.

Among the users who reported the problem was comedian Megan Stalter, who is followed by hundreds of thousands of people on Instagram and TikTok. On Saturday night, the artist posted a video in which, referring to the death of Alex Pretti, she called on people to take a stand against the Ice raids in Minneapolis. The video exceeded 12 thousand shares on Instagram, but never appeared on TikTok. After several failed attempts to upload, Stalter deleted his account, in protest against the short video social.

Similar reports have clearly also come from other users, who have told of videos that remained 'under review' or were never published after addressing issues related to federal immigration operations. The story also attracted the attention of Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, who called the alleged censorship on TikTok a major 'threat to democracy'.

Similar doubts were raised by Jen Hamilton, a nurse and author with over 4.5 million followers on TikTok. Hamilton says that on the day the platform's takeover was announced, one of her videos about the detention of a five-year-old boy by federal agents was never posted. After sharing a post on Pretti, four other videos would remain blocked. "I have no evidence of direct censorship," he said, "but I find it significant that this is happening on the very day of the change of management."