(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) The prospect of a nationwide ban on TikTok didn’t deter the popular social-media company from implementing its own bans on videos of lawmakers lamenting the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
@off.the.press.news Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot Wednesday afternoon during an event at Utah Valley University, which spurred immediate reaction from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) a House hearing happening at the same time. #news #shorts #charliekirk #charlie #kirk #utah #utahvalley #saltlakecity #slc #congress #breaking ♬ original sound – Off The Press
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping were in direct negotiations to prevent a U.S. ban from taking effect ahead of a looming legislative deadline.
Meanwhile, left-wing influencers were using the outlet to spread hatred and vitriol over Kirk’s Sept. 10 killing, allegedly at the hands of a deranged furry enthusiast.
But it was tributes honoring Kirk where TikTok drew the line, the Daily Signal reported.
It accused upstart media company Off The Press of violating “community guidelines” after the outlet posted a series of videos featuring lawmakers like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.
After two strikes, TikTok reportedly issued a permanent ban for Off The Press. However, it subsequently restored the account, which had nearly 40,000 followers as of Saturday.
“What we’ve seen from TikTok is arbitrary takedowns of important news content, specifically videos of lawmakers making remarks on Capitol Hill,” OTP Managing Editor Julian Baron told the Signal in a statment.
“That cannot be the norm,” he added. “This sends a chilling message about how much control social media companies have over our public discourse and how easily it can be mismanaged or abused.”
Greene’s video urged fellow House members to pray for Kirk on Sept. 10, the day he was shot while speaking to an audience of college students at Utah Valley University.
Murphy’s video indicated he was sending his “thoughts” to Kirk and his family.
Neither appeared to be in violation of community guidelines, and both videos were subsequently restored by TikTok after garnering media attention.
“It was just a video of a lawmaker talking, and TikTok arbitrarily decided that an elected lawmaker speaking about a pertinent news topic is just not allowed,” Baron told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “This is just crazy that these extremely tame videos of lawmakers are getting flagged like this.”
Despite restoring the account and the supposedly offending videos, TikTok promptly issued another takedown (and warning) over a video of First Lady Melania Trump speaking to British schoolchildren.
“It’s problematic because we don’t have this issue on any other social media platform,” Baron said.
