Palestinian developer gains massive user support for app challenging censorship claims criticising US and Israel after losing over 60 relatives in Gaza

The UpScrolled app, launched by Palestinian–Jordanian–Australian developer Issam Hijazi, who lost more than 60 of his relatives in the Gaza genocide, has seen remarkable success. It is ranked ninth among free apps on Apple’s App Store, one place ahead of TikTok, and second in the social networking category as of Monday afternoon. The app has reached fifth place in the United States, sixth in Australia, and eighth in the UK App Store rankings. UpScrolled supports short videos, video editing, and text posts. It presents itself as a platform without censorship and without biased algorithms. The app saw a sharp rise in downloads over the previous 24 hours, gaining more than 100,000 new users. This surge comes amid accusations against social media platforms, led by TikTok, of imposing censorship and suppressing content, particularly material critical of US President Donald Trump. These claims followed the takeover of TikTok’s operations in the United States by figures loyal to Trump and Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously praised the importance of controlling TikTok.