UpScrolled founder and CEO Issam Hijazi used a high-profile appearance at Web Summit Qatar to stake out a blunt position for his fast-rising short‑form app: “We won’t censor anybody.” The free‑speech pledge arrives as TikTok’s US ownership transition has unsettled creators and users, creating an opening for challengers.
That message appears to be resonating. Hijazi said UpScrolled surged into the top 10 on Apple’s App Store and Google Play, and claimed total users jumped from just over one million last week to 2.5 million, achieved with “zero” spend on branding or marketing.
A Promise of Unfiltered Speech from UpScrolled
Pressed on the industry’s incumbents by The Economist’s Middle East correspondent Gregg Carlstrom, Hijazi accused large platforms of prioritizing profit over user well‑being and practicing “selective censorship.” He also criticized tech firms’ roles around violent conflicts, citing personal loss in Gaza.
He offered no specific examples during the session, but recent episodes have fueled claims of inconsistent enforcement. Gaza‑based journalist Bisan Owda briefly lost access to her TikTok account with more than a million followers before it was restored with some limitations, a reversal that sparked debate over platform decisions amid wartime reporting.
Hijazi pitched UpScrolled as the inverse of engagement‑hacking feeds. The app aims to give users “equal opportunity” to be heard without algorithmic boosting beyond light discovery, and he said it was deliberately “designed to let people log off.”
The Moderation Paradox Facing New Social Platforms
Every social platform eventually confronts the same paradox: zero moderation invites toxicity, while strong rules trigger accusations of bias. Hijazi insisted UpScrolled will “stay within legal boundaries,” and its own policy FAQ goes further, committing to enforce “community guidelines or broadly accepted legal and ethical standards.”
The prohibited list—illegal activity, hate speech, bullying, harassment, explicit nudity, unlicensed copyrighted material, and content intended to cause harm—closely mirrors mainstream platforms. That raises an immediate tension between a blanket “no censorship” promise and the realities of building a service where people “feel safe,” as Hijazi also vowed.
Complaints about antisemitic and neo‑Nazi posts have already surfaced on UpScrolled, testing how quickly the company can translate principles into enforcement. The early playbook for challengers is clear: establish clear lines, publish transparency reports, build appeals processes, and make moderation timelines measurable.
History offers caution. YouTube’s 2017 brand‑safety crisis triggered advertiser boycotts after ads appeared next to extremist content. More recently, major brands paused spending on X over concerns about hate‑speech adjacency. Regulators are also tightening expectations: the European Union’s Digital Services Act compels faster removal of illegal content and detailed risk audits.
Public attitudes are conflicted too. Pew Research Center surveys consistently find many Americans believe platforms suppress certain political viewpoints, yet majorities also support limiting false or harmful posts. Any “no censorship” stance ultimately lives or dies on how a company defines and enforces harm.
Business Model and Funding Questions for UpScrolled
Hijazi said UpScrolled will sell ads but avoid third‑party ad networks and personal‑data targeting. That aligns with privacy‑forward positioning but can compress revenue compared with precision‑targeted ads that dominate short‑form video economics. The company will need compelling contextual placements and high creator engagement to offset that gap.
On capital, Hijazi expressed confidence in raising funds without relying on Silicon Valley and used a contentious reference to “Zionist money.” Such rhetoric may complicate outreach to US institutions even as global investors hunt for new consumer‑social bets.
Momentum is not retention. Recent social darlings have spiked in downloads only to plateau as engagement settles—Clubhouse, Ello, and several text‑first upstarts offer cautionary benchmarks. UpScrolled’s near‑term report card will hinge on daily active users, creator retention, and average watch time, not just installs.
Road Map and Risks for a Young Video Platform
Hijazi stressed the blueprint is evolving and that the team is seeking expert guidance. For a young network, that likely means iterating quickly on rule definitions, scaling trust and safety teams, and publishing clear enforcement data to reassure both users and advertisers.
Turbulence at incumbents creates windows for trials. TikTok’s US transition has been bumpy, with users reporting repetitive feeds and outages the company attributed to data‑center power problems. Moments like these can nudge creators to test rival apps, but long‑term adoption will depend on reliability, creator tools, monetization options, and brand‑safe ad products.
Building a place where “everyone can speak” while mainstream audiences “feel safe” is one of the hardest problems in tech. UpScrolled now has attention and early growth. What it removes—and what it leaves up—will determine whether “we won’t censor anybody” becomes a true differentiator or a promise rewritten by reality.
