America’s Gen Z creators are quietly revolting against TikTok’s new American owners, one download at a time: installing an emerging alternative app created by its former developer Oracle staff.
In January, TikTok’s U.S. operations were officially spun off from its global operations and placed under a new joint venture in which Oracle holds a majority stake, with the enterprise software giant now responsible for U.S. user data and the version of TikTok’s recommendation algorithm that runs in the United States. The shift ended years of political pressure and delivered what supporters said was a national security victory, but on the ground, many young users saw something else: a beloved app becoming a tool for corporate and political power.
On TikTok itself, creators have been posting angry explanations for the ownership transfer, claiming there will be future censorship of pro-Palestinian speech and warning followers not to “give their data to Oracle.” This outrage creates the perfect runway for a rival platform whose origin story intersects directly with Oracle’s while promising to disrupt everything Gen Z has associated with it. At the same time, as Influential technology journalist Cathy Newton notedTikTok’s algorithm seemed to fail immediately after the handover, causing its largely Gen Z fans to frantically search for alternatives to the addictive feed.
In late January, as TikTok’s U.S. ownership shifted, the app suffered a widely discussed algorithm crash, with For You pages filled with content that users derided as “sloppy.” The glitch comes at a time when Gen Z is already questioning how recommendation systems distort reality, serve life-stage-agnostic content, and turn every piece of information into an infinite scroll with lowest common denominator virality. this r/TikTok feed One upvoted post on Reddit simply said: “Rest in peace TikTok, 2016-2026“.
When TikTok’s machines went down publicly
UpScrolled launched quietly in 2025, but its breakthrough came in January, when TikTok’s U.S. spinoff went live and frustration with the algorithm surged. Hijazi told TechCrunch that the platform has surged from about 150,000 users to more than 1 million in a matter of days, and now has more than 2.5 million users, largely due to people seeking to escape TikTok’s “broken” feed.
Alternatives from Oracle data pipeline to Oracle alum
The irony driving this insurrection is poignant: TikTok’s U.S. operations now run under the infrastructure and oversight of Oracle, and a former Oracle engineer was behind the downloads of many users in protest of the app. Posted on X TikTok makes this point directly, portraying Hijazi as an insider-turned-dissident who once contributed to big tech systems but is now trying to remedy their shortcomings after seeing algorithms distort reality and silence certain voices.
For Gen Z, this backstory is important because it ties their distrust of TikTok’s new stewards (Oracle, U.S. investors, and the political class) to a personal narrative: people who know the inside of the old machine believe it is structurally broken and offer a different model.
Anti-censorship in the age of “bad algorithms”
One of the biggest beneficiaries so far is UpScrolled, a social network that combines elements of Instagram and X simultaneously commit to a more open approach to speech and influence. Founder of Qatar Web Summit Issam Hijaz It said UpScrolled “scaled” from about 150,000 users in early January to more than 1 million in a matter of days, and as of this week, has gone 2.5 million users worldwide.
UpScrolled gained traction just as TikTok’s U.S. ownership deal was finalizing, with many users explicitly viewing their signups as a protest against what they saw as a corporatized, localized version of TikTok. In creator group chats and Discords, screenshots of the home screen show TikTok being pushed into the side folder, while UpScrolled has been moved to the Dock.
UpScrolled promises no shadowbans and a more transparent approach to moderation, with community rules against violence and hate, but without the opaque, lock-in-life-scripted personalization that many Gen Z users now blame on their “brain rot.” It’s not exactly analog – this is still a social app – but it fits into a broader push among young people to reclaim their attention, whether through “dumb phones,” print magazines, or slower, less gamified online spaces.
Alternatives from Oracle data pipeline to Oracle alum
The irony driving this insurrection is poignant: TikTok’s U.S. operations now run under the infrastructure and oversight of Oracle, and a former Oracle engineer was behind the downloads of many users in protest of the app. Posts on both
For Gen Zers, this backstory is important because it ties their distrust of TikTok’s new stewards—Oracle, U.S. investors, and the political class—with a personal narrative: that of someone who knew the inside of the old machine and believed it was structurally broken and offered a different model.
Oracle and UpScrolled did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
For this story,wealthJournalists use generative AI as a research tool. Editors verified information for accuracy before publishing.
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