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Snapshot 6:Tue, Jan 27, 2026 2:42:33 PM GMT last edited by Brian

Newsom Probes TikTok Over Alleged Trump Censorship

Newsom Probes TikTok Over Alleged Trump Censorship

Newsom Probes TikTok Over Alleged Trump Censorship
Above: **Watermarked Getty Image. Kindly Replace** California Governor Gavin Newsom at a press conference on Jan. 16 in San Francisco, California. Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The Spin

SocialIt's mediaimportant platformsnot areto privatejump businessesto protectedconclusions by the Firstsecond Amendment,you andencounter government regulation would set a dangeroustech precedentissue. farAccording worsenot thanonly anyto allegedTikTok, bias.but Breakingto upindependent thesemedia companiesanalyses, ignoresthis thatwas usersa benefitwidespread mostdata fromcenter dominantissue, platformsone whereof theirthe networksconsequences exist.of Mandatingwhich ideologicalwas diversitythe isfailure impossible to measuresend orone-word enforce across the political spectrummessages.

Gavin NewsomIt's not unreasonable to assume that TikTok, presencejust reeksas ofit hypocrisy.comes Whileunder courtingthe followerscontrol onlineof billionaire Trump allies, hesuddenly championstakes sweepingaction censorshipin through CaliforniaTrump's Digitalfavor. AgeOracle Assurancechairman Act.Larry HisEllison rhetoricis masksa authoritarianmajor impulsesbacker of mandatingmultiple ageTrump verification,administration expanding surveillanceofficials, and empoweringhe's governmentcertainly controlcapable overof digitalusing speech.his Newsomcompanies isto fundamentallypush hostiletheir to online freedomagenda.

ThereNewsom's iscomplaint areeks 50%of chancehypocrisy. theWhile UScourting followers online, he champions sweeping censorship through California's scoreDigital inAge theAssurance FreedomAct. inHis therhetoric Worldmasks Reportauthoritarian forimpulses 2050 willmandating beage 76verification, expanding surveillance, and empowering government control over digital speech.9 Republicans are just as bad, accordingfunding the same agencies they used to thecondemn Metaculusfor predictioncensoring communityconservatives online.

Metaculus Prediction

There is a 50% chance the US's score in the Freedom in the World Report for 2050 will be 76.9, according to the Metaculus prediction community.


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© 2026 Improve the News Foundation.

All rights reserved.

Version 6.18.0