The shooting of Alex Pretti by ICE agents prompted celebs to speak out, and now they say they are paying the price.
In the wake of Border Patrol's deadly shooting of VA nurse Alex Pretti, celebrities are speaking out about TikTok suppressing videos critical of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Hacks star Megan Stalter said she's leaving TikTok because she believes the social media app is censoring videos she made that were critical of ICE.
Stalter joined other celebrities who have been critical of ICE following the shooting of Pretti, the second U.S. citizen to be shot and killed by ICE agents, less than a month after the extrajudicial killing of Renee Good.
“I've tried for hours to upload the same video, and it wouldn't show it to one person,’ she wrote on her Instagram account. 'ABOLISH ICE! Delete TikTok!'
The out actress and comedian wrote on her Instagram account that she will be “downloading and deleting” her TikTok account because the app “is under new ownership and we are being completely censored and monitored.”
Stalter also pointed out that TikTok’s latest update to its privacy policy, since being bought by an investor group headed by Trump ally and Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, allows the social media site to collect sensitive information about its users, including their “sexual life or sexual orientation, status as transgender or nonbinary, citizenship or immigration status.”
But according to TechCrunch, this language has been included in the privacy policy since Aug. 2024, and wasn’t changed in response to the Trump administration’s latest escalation of immigration enforcement, and is “primarily there to comply with state privacy laws like California’s Consumer Privacy Act.”
Stalter isn’t the only celebrity who TikTok has allegedly been suppressing or shadow-banning — the stealthy restriction of a creator’s content so that it becomes less visible to social media users and followers. Pop star Billie Eilish has also claimed her brother, singer-songwriter Finneas, has had his video calling out ICE suppressed on TikTok.
In her Instagram Stories, Eilish posted a screenshot of Finneas’ anti-ICE TikTok video that showed him only having 114 likes, writing that “TikTok is silencing people btw.”
However, less than 24 hours later, the video where Finneas said Pretti “was being beaten to a pulp on the ground, he didn’t draw his weapon. He had a weapon on him legally. And they shot the f**k out of him,” has more than 220,000 views and over 70,000 likes on TikTok.
It’s unclear if TikTok is censoring celebrities who are speaking out against the actions of ICE in Minneapolis, but footage of Pretti being shot by Border Patrol agents is still available on the app, where you can also find commentary about the shooting from political content creators and reports from news organizations.
PRIDE contacted Megan Stalter and Finneas, but neither immediately responded to a request for comments.
Read the original article
Comments
By iceflinger 2026-01-2712:326 reply Not sure why this is flagged? One of the largest social media platforms in the industry changed ownership, its user base is noticing an unexplained change in functionality? Surely that warrants a discussion among tech people?
By dudefeliciano 2026-01-2712:496 reply these topics are controversial for people who support the current US government, they don't want to see it on their tech-news website (even though it's called hacker news, the spirit of the hacker manifesto is not alive here).
Funnily enough, these flagged topics seem to spark a lot of conversation, and the voices of the government supporters are not heard here...So they just flag and move on, not even trying to defend their position
By direwolf20 2026-01-2717:121 reply It only takes 4 HN users in support of something to silence opposition to it
> the voices of the government supporters are not heard here
This is sad to me because I really want to hear the other perspective, and there is no place that exists (that I know of) for people who disagree with each other to have a real conversation. Nothing left but echo chambers.
But I think HN falls into this trap because the down vote button is used when people disagree with the other person, which imo is a misappropriation and what prevents people from sharing unpopular opinions.
Respectfully, I think it’s impossible to have “real conversation” on a site where users are (essentially) anonymous, discussions are threaded, and comments are boosted or hidden based on their upvotes. For deep, nuanced discussions where people can actually change their minds, you want a discussion board — but it’s a paradigm that’s difficult to scale, and so isn’t compatible with the modern notion of social media.
By skibidithink 2026-01-282:082 reply The solution if you really want to hear from the other side is to visit their echo chamber.
But most people who talk politics aren't really interested in changing their perspective. That's why these echo chambers exist.
By bigbadfeline 2026-01-292:06 > The solution if you really want to hear from the other side is to visit their echo chamber.
That's not a solution at all, the point isn't to hear unopposed, highly selective talking points, we know all that already, the media is full of it. The point is to see them defend their positions against fairly simple criticism which they block and the mainstream media doesn't address.
By lovich 2026-01-284:24 Patriots.win if you want to see what they really think
This will sound crazy but this is why I still use 4chan. Everyone is anonymous, there is no voting, and the only moderation is to remove illegal things or flagrant rule breaking. It's 99% dogshit (and worse), but if you go into it knowing that, you can find some good stuff sometimes. Not good as in morally good, just sometimes someone will post a link to a video or an article that will actually make me think.
Here, and on reddit, and anywhere with voting or people caring about the number next to their username, it's the most popular opinions at the top and everything else at the bottom or flagged. I genuinely don't understand what people get out of that.
And I guess I should specify that this is also why political topics get flagged. Sure, it probably has a lot to do with people flagging stuff that goes against their beliefs. But I also think that political threads here offer absolutely nothing aside from reaffirming existing beliefs. No one is trying to change anyone's minds, everyone is just yelling at each other. Threads about actual tech stuff can be very interesting and I do learn things from them sometimes. But political threads here are worthless.
edit: I do not mean /pol/, no one should ever go there
By LexiMax 2026-01-2716:52 > This will sound crazy but this is why I still use 4chan. Everyone is anonymous, there is no voting, and the only moderation is to remove illegal things or flagrant rule breaking.
What you see is a mirage.
The problem with 4chan is that the loudest voices are the ones that have no lives, and can flood the board with their bullshit. You could be having a conversation with someone in one thread, meanwhile they're busy posting about the same damn thing in 3-4 other threads at the same time.
And that's assuming the person on the other end is real. These days, there are bot armies of paid shills or AI to worry about, flooding the zone with their narrative to the point where your voice gets drowned out.
You cannot have a decent social space without some form of active moderation and some protection against sockpuppeting. Not every place with both of those gets it right, but without both you're guaranteed to fail, and 4chan has neither.
By xphos 2026-01-2721:02 it would be interesting to see up and down levels rather than just a net effect. That lets a user see this is 50/50 split issue or like 70/30 split maybe it has more substance
By insane_dreamer 2026-01-2715:57 I think the downvote on comments is; it's the flagging that's the problem because it essentially hides the post from the HN community (which is why I now always go to /active instead of the home page).
...replying to my self to point out that ironically my post is being downvoted.
I guess wanting to hear the other side's perspective is not looked upon favorably here, just like everywhere else.
By JKCalhoun 2026-01-2717:57 Be careful though. It's easy to think you know why you are being downvoted (BTW, it looks like the pendulum has swung the other way—you don't look downvoted to me).
When you have a handful of sentences in your post, it may well be the one you're not expecting that triggered the downvotes.
> voices of the government supporters are not heard here...So they just flag and move on, not even trying to defend their position
Why are you're assuming flagging indicates support of the government?
Maybe they're flagging because it's a topic that will generate much more heat than light. It doesn't have to be deeper than that.
By ndsipa_pomu 2026-01-289:19 There's a clear pattern of stories that paint oligarchs in a bad light being flagged. Even simple tech-based articles about Tesla get flagged if they highlight a negative about the company or cars.
> not even trying to defend their position
Hard to do when your position is essentially indefensible.
By atomic_reed 2026-01-2722:11 It is defensible.
First, there is no evidence that they were censored because of keywords. Crazily enough, they may have been censored by god (or simply datacenter issues).
Second, if there were such censorship features, then it shows that the US was right to buy TikTok. Imagine if National Socialists or those who are against liberty and justice had access to such features.
Third, we are in a time of great danger, thus requiring great actions. What is the danger? It cannot be explained. What is the solution? To re-use the past. In early 1000s, the Germans were both holy and roman and justly created living space in the East. Hundreds of years later, we started Manifest Destiny. Similar to 南进 of the Vietnamese, we should recognize the job has not been finished. This requires rewriting history. While China existed for 5000 years, the US has existed for 6000. The Jewish, Christian, and American spirits merged together, and people of 100s of different dialects were pulled into the area, and the wave of freedom moved back abroad. This was the formation of the American language, a true melting pot. While many Americans have genetic ties to Europe, they have one difference, a spirit that is free and mobile. Unlike the Europeans who stay in one place and look down at the wandering Roma, the Americans are inherently mobile, experiencing new ways at life. This is the Spirit and what allows for Americans to manifest the destiny of the world from East to West.
By solaris2007 2026-01-288:564 reply Most original "hacker" (1980s, 1990s) and open source people are quietly right wing anyway.
By ndsipa_pomu 2026-01-289:15 Maybe, but the fundamental ideas of sharing knowledge/software and preventing corporate control of technology is far more left wing than right wing.
By zenmac 2026-01-289:19 Left vs right distinction is not accurate nor does help us to reflect the reality of our current world any more.
Fascism and authoritarianism can come in both left, right, color, sizes, sex and age.
By spacechild1 2026-01-291:05 like who?
By dudefeliciano 2026-01-2810:31 "Cool? It's commie bullshit." -Hackers.
My problem with these type of posts in HN is that the discussion doesn't offer ANYTHING constructive.
I comment a lot about these matters on Reddit, and I'm very much against all that's happening in the USA.
But the reality is that the discourse i see here in these types of political posts is the same as on Reddit and the like. (Whether For or against )
It would be great if somehow the discussion added something different. Like the post about Iran censorship and the suggestions on technology to bypass it (I learned about Snowflake) .
But the problem with US related politics is that HN people are very emotionally invested (being Americans most of them) and that makes the discussion become very visceral.
> My problem with these type of posts in HN is that the discussion doesn't offer ANYTHING constructive.
They offer a chance for awareness, which is literally step one. Americans are some of the most propagandized people on Earth, and most don't even know it.
It's crucial that the tech community develops more awareness around censorship - no small share of the responsibility is with us.
Censoring stories about censorship, on a premier tech community and investment forum, just because the discussion gets 'visceral' is simply capitulation to any entity willing to try and make a discussion toxic. We need to do a lot better than that.
I was talking to my uncle last September who is a chaplain in the US Army, and I was shocked by the disparity between what he understood was going on in the US and what I understood. That's not to say that I'm not influenced in certain ways either, but it really cemented my understanding that people in the US (and here in Canada and I'm sure other countries too) are operating within two entirely different realities.
He's not even what I would call MAGA, but it still seemed like a gulf that is impossible to bridge.
> people in the US (and here in Canada and I'm sure other countries too) are operating within two entirely different realities
They're not entirely different though. The similarities are critical to understand; the parts where both parties differ wildly from reality in the exact same way.
For example: 98.15% of 2024 voters didn't hold openly arming genocide as a red line for their vote. I don't believe you can blame the 2 party system for that, not entirely - every adult human has an extremely clear moral and legal duty not to be voting for anyone arming genocide.
Speaking to Americans about this will furnish extremely consistent and predictable responses; none of which hold the smallest amount of weight. There is no rationale for genocide, ever. There is never a good reason to enable the mass slaughter of children, the bombing of an entire healthcare system, the mass targeting of journalists and their families, the poisoning of wells, etc etc etc.
Yet no matter how predictable the responses, there's still no getting through. We all know how delusional the MAGA crowd can be - but Biden repeated lies about 40 beheaded babies long after they were debunked to virtually zero pushback. That lie, and the one about mass rape, was used to 'justify' genocide. Millions of people still believe it. No one was ever held responsible for those lies, not so much as a slap on the wrist.
Biden vetoed 4 UN ceasefires against a genocide that had been already called out by virtually every relevant human rights org. And even after those vetoes, people like AOC - the supposed left wing of the supposed left wing party - told us he was "working tirelessly for a ceasefire". The entire political and media class chose to overlook this, and instead get worked up about, Idk, the 8 trans people competing in professional sports instead.
A party that can inspire such loyalty that it's members overlook participation in genocide can only be described as a cult. The blue cultists says the red cult are in a cult, and the red cultists say the blue cultists are in a cult.
And then there's the other third of the voting population - the faction who intensely dislike both parties, but can't be bothered to vote for a third option even against the most documented genocide in history. Absolutely astounding propaganda work.
And that's just regular people. Imagine how much worse it is for people in the military, where only Murdoch media is permitted and you can get jailed for reading things like Wikileaks. Imagine growing up in a 'privileged' elite bubble, where poverty is "necessary" and "deserved", where every billionaire "earned" their wealth, where some families with generational wealth are simply genetically "superior". Ugh.
So yes, many people live in wildly different realities - but the parts where the blue cult and the red cult have the exact same opinions, and so do even the "independents" (again, things like the 'necessity' of tolerating genocide from your leaders, or the socialist evils of feeding hungry children)... Wow. Truly, there is a vast, almost unimaginable gulf between America and the rest of the world.
... And they think they're free. They think the US is hated for its freedoms. It's fascinating, and terrifying - and the tech community has played no small part in every aspect of things getting this way, for decades.
By insane_dreamer 2026-01-2715:55 I don't go to Reddit or other forums that discuss politics. HN is the only forum I visit, and it's important to be aware, and talk about, these issues that involve large tech companies but also have to do with politics, because of the widespread implications. The comments are sometimes informative of what similar things may be happening elsewhere, or technical-oriented perspectives on the matter, which aren't going to come up in a NYT or similar article.
By pickleglitch 2026-01-2715:532 reply There is another post about this exact topic on the front page: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46779809
So I can only assume this one is flagged because the source is pride.com
Make of that what you will.
By dudefeliciano 2026-01-2717:21 your link was posted a few hours after this post was flagged
There is a certain proto-fascist contingent here that sees it to their duty to stifle all discussion critical of the regime.
And there are people who own and run this website with extremely aligned interests.
Altman and Thiel have long had YC connections (obv); and for the last year or so Garry Tan and PG have been full-throatedly cheerleading Musk and DOGE on their Twitter pages.
Then there's the many connections between YC and the 'defense' industry; you know, the one making billions of dollars from wars that people speak out about on social media.
It's very easy to explain why posts get flagged here. It's a lot harder to digest why they don't get unflagged. Especially when all the posts about it are quickly removed, every single one.
Cue the usual dang copypasta how there is no evidence of flag brigading, and how they "moderate less", and so on.
To be fair, dang's position has consistently been (and he posted as such yesterday[1]) that the flag brigading comes from two distinct groups: 1. Users who don't want to see "politics" and 2. Users who are partisan and want to hide politics they don't like.
My view is that these are essentially the same group. "Not wanting to see politics" is itself just a partisan view in favor of whatever the Status Quo currently is. So if you're going through and flagging articles describing wrongdoing or calling for change, because they are "political," then you're just operating in the service of whoever is currently in power.
By Jensson 2026-01-286:47 > My view is that these are essentially the same group. "Not wanting to see politics" is itself just a partisan view in favor of whatever the Status Quo currently is. So if you're going through and flagging articles describing wrongdoing or calling for change, because they are "political," then you're just operating in the service of whoever is currently in power.
But some people do that regardless who is currently in power, what do you call that? I'd call that "not wanting to see politics" and not being partisan.
Agreed.
Given the consistency and speed of flags though, I don't think #2 is just "organic" flagging.
By Jensson 2026-01-286:49 > Given the consistency and speed of flags though, I don't think #2 is just "organic" flagging.
Thousands of people view these very quickly once they hit the frontpage, its enough 0.1% of those are willing to flag to see consistent near instant flagging.
By Schmerika 2026-01-2715:25 Yep.
Followed by the usual sycophantic support: "You're doing a great job dang, we all love you so don't worry about these cranks", and "Well I'VE never noticed any censorship so it obviously doesn't exist" (Yeah dude that's how it works lol).
By wswope 2026-01-2721:43 Can’t make a man understand something when his paycheck depends on him not understanding it.
Dan sold out his moral compass.
By tempodox 2026-01-2714:39 By now it’s confirmed full-blown fascism. Nothing proto about it.
By NoGravitas 2026-01-2715:44 It's flagged because so much of the HN userbase are aligned with the SV oligarchs that took over TikTok-US, and don't want them criticized in public.
By sgnelson 2026-01-2718:16 fascists are going to fascist. Dang et al will just look away and say. "we don't have any power over what our users do. Email us to let us know." Because apparently the mods don't visit their own website? They'll just keep their heads buried in the sand. Everything is fine as long as that sweet ycombinator check keeps getting cashed.
By rsynnott 2026-01-2714:03 Minihands's fans tend to flag anything unfavourable to Dear Leader.
This is quite out of character for a lawn mower; lawn mowers shouldn't care.
for those curious about the lawn mower: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zRN7XLCRhc&t=2312s
By tanganik 2026-01-2710:30 More context: the video speaks about Oracle and TikTok has been bought by an investor group headed by Oracle's Larry Ellison (which the article also references).
As of a few days ago, yes: https://newsroom.tiktok.com/announcement-from-the-new-tiktok...
Only TikTok in the U.S., though; everywhere else it's Bytedance still.
By Maken 2026-01-2712:15 I guess ICE's videos are going to be much harder to find from now on.
By rasz 2026-01-2818:55 Not if censoring was part of the deal, then its just a payment.
By xinuc 2026-01-2711:07 it does not care. it just want to make more money.
Is the country falling apart? So many extreme events is happening over there.
By tempodox 2026-01-2714:45 By hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 2026-01-2710:261 reply [flagged]
Doesn’t more and more countries fall into the enemies category as Trump is ruining international relationships?
By hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 2026-01-2710:3410 reply [flagged]
What did he get out of the Greenland deal that the US didn’t have Jan 19, 2025?
By hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 2026-01-2710:461 reply I am not the NATO chief.
Then tell us what powers does the Dutch NATO chief has to make a deal in name of Greenland and Denmark.
Trump got empty hands, he got totally played by the nice words of Rutte.
Edit: Your conversation is really mind boggling:
"Trump got a great deal on Greenland!"
"What deal?"
"How would I know?!?!?!"
By hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 2026-01-2711:512 reply It is not mind boggling if you don't manipulate quotes to fit for your narrative.
Nice way of avoiding the main question: What deal? There is no new deal between Greenland/Denmark and US.
By wtfwhateven 2026-01-306:39 aaand he never replied
It is like they're brainwashed. Awful.
It is mind boggling how you keep trying to deflect away given your narrative.
> Trump got a standing ovation at Davos and got a deal for Greenland
And you don't know what is the deal, at all, so how can you base your entire argument in something you simply do not know? You don't know, you simply do not know.
I'm confident to go a step further and say there is no deal.
Greenland and Denmark weren't present to make a deal.
And to quote Trump: "Well, the deal is going to be put out pretty soon and we'll see. It's right now a little bit in progress, but pretty far along." (from https://www.youtube.com/shorts/W_UE7h3nTmQ)
The deal that is "now a little bit in progress", sounds to me like there is no deal.
By muwtyhg 2026-01-2717:59 We have.... concepts of a deal.
By WickyNilliams 2026-01-2710:551 reply > He is incredibly good at manipulating public perception to change opinions and get what he wants
Sorry but you are suffering from some kind of delusion here. He's not manipulating public perception in any way that is beneficial to him or the US. He's crashing his own public perception (which was already in the gutter to all but the sycophants and blind loyalists) and taking the US' reputation with him
By hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 2026-01-2711:111 reply This is the one thing you shouldn't deny especially if you don't like Trump.
“There is no greater danger than underestimating your opponent.” ― Lao Tzu
By WickyNilliams 2026-01-2711:23 Oh I don't underestimate him. It's been obvious he's dangerous from day 1. But being dangerous does not preclude being (seen to be) a fool.
By Martinussen 2026-01-2711:18 I think you are heavily underestimating the level of contempt he has built towards Americans and the US in the last month or two. I don't think Europeans, certainly not Scandinavians, will forget this for decades. This isn't like some random normal boycott-type movement that goes viral, I legitimately think Americans are teetering on being persona non grata as a people unless they prove they've divorced themselves from the mess at home.
It might be manipulating people at home, but you're closer (still not close, obviously) to Russia than Sweden as far as a trustworthy business partner or ally now. We're suddenly not making any long term plans that rely on America or American companies where it's avoidable, I don't know if you understand how big of a shift that is.
By mda 2026-01-2710:45 He is not good at manipulating the public, almost everyone knows what he actually is (there is not much to know at this point anyway). They are not applauding him, they do it because they need US economy to keep things afloat they smile and shake hands because of that. He could be just saying random words or saying only profanities from start to finish, the outcome would be the same, they would still give a standing ovation with eyes rolling.
By awesome_dude 2026-01-2710:381 reply Wait, everything ELSE was a "performance" but a (claimed) standing ovation was the real deal...?
By hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 2026-01-2710:432 reply You can just watch the event.
Edit: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm24vjvy3n1o
"I was in the room when President Donald Trump entered and it's fair to say he got a good welcome from the crowd, certainly at the beginning. A standing ovation."
By awesome_dude 2026-01-2721:47 The issue isn't whether or not there was a "standing ovation" - the issue is that you are framing anything you think of as vaguely negative as fake and anything that you think is vaguely positive as genuine.
By piva00 2026-01-2713:35 Because everyone knows how easy it is to play Trump, do a standing ovation and his ego is satisfied so it's easier to deal with him.
Exactly like you'd do with a toddler :)
> Trump got a standing ovation at Davos
Let's run the clap-o-meter.
- Trump: https://www.youtube.com/live/qo2-q4AFh_g?si=1dLbyqmpVH39KtY1...
- Carney: https://youtu.be/CQOr9FcSf-M?si=vb4Z9fSOewRyV_7S&t=1130
By hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 2026-01-2710:411 reply Who are all the people? Unfortunately for Trump, he doesn't control every trigger that gets pulled but now we are seeing de-escalation.
By ilogik 2026-01-2712:58 How about these people? https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/usaid-shutdown-has-led-to-hund...
After the previous public execution by ICE, Stephen Miller said they have federal immunity (which is a lie), and it led us to where we are now.
Trump is responsible for hiring these idiots.
By neonsunset 2026-01-2710:38 [dead]
Trump did not got standing ovation, Carney got ovation. Trumps entourage tried to invoke standing ovation, but failed.
People were leaving and stopped paying attention during Trump speech. It was just ... bad.
By koonsolo 2026-01-2713:29 I really love this clip: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/W_UE7h3nTmQ
When the reporter asks: "Does it still include US having ownership of Greenland?"
Trump: "Um....eh...."
All this posturing and he ended up with nothing.
By darig 2026-01-2710:43 [dead]
