UpScrolled, a social media application created by Palestinian-Australian technology entrepreneur Issam Hijazi, has reached the number one spot on the US Apple App Store.
It has topped the charts for social media app downloads in several other countries and is second for overall downloads in the iOS Store, narrowly behind OpenAI's ChatGPT.
The controversy and technical glitches plaguing TikTok in the US under a newly announced joint venture are thought to be key factors in its success.
On Monday, some users of TikTok reported being unable to post or search for anything related to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, while others noticed that posts related to US immigration enforcement agents had been significantly throttled. TikTok maintained that problems were the result technical glitches and not censorship.
Regardless, the accusations of censorship are not new or unique to TikTok.
The team behind UpScrolled, which went live last June, said the platform was created due to bias against those seeking to promote issues relating to Palestine on social media.
"What began as a response to the silencing of Palestinians has become a refuge for many others who feel marginalised by mainstream platforms," a blog entry on UpScrolled's website reads.
During Israel's military campaign in Gaza that followed an unprecedented Hamas attack in October 2023, social media apps such as TikTok, Instagram and Facebook began to censor certain posts relating to destruction in the Palestinian enclave. Some activists accused platforms of algorithmic bias.
Referring to the app creator, the post on UpScrolled's site says: "For Issam ... this was not an abstract frustration or a passing trend, it was deeply personal.
"Watching his people be erased in their homeland while the digital space narrowed around them created a tension he could no longer sit with."
Mr Hijazi's previous experience at IBM, Oracle and Hitachi helped sharpen his ability to create the app, UpScrolled said.
On Wednesday, 7amleh, the Arab Centre for the Advancement of Social Media – a prominent digital advocacy group – announced it had joined UpScrolled.
Various social media posts from UpScrolled say that since the newly formed US-led TikTok entity was launched late last week, concerns about bias against pro-Palestine posts, coupled with new user agreements and technical glitches, led to more than 100,000 people subscribing to the new app, in addition to the 90,000 existing users.
The app's interface will be familiar to most users, providing the ability to post information along with links, videos and photographs. Users can also follow others' accounts, while the tried-and-tested like and reshare options are also available.
Like other social apps, there is also a feed focused on the accounts that users follow, along with a discover feed to find new content.
Although UpScrolled's ascent in recent days has been impressive, it is not unprecedented.
The dustbin of social media app history is filled with examples of products and services that had stellar starts, only to fail at maintaining long-term enthusiasm.
Post, a much-touted social platform that appeared shortly after Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022, had a similar trajectory but ceased operations in 2024.
Although it is still puttering along, the Mastodon platform also failed to sustain long-term interest, despite an impressive start.
UpScrolled's headquarters are in Australia, where "stability, rule of law and strong democratic institutions" reflect the values the platform is trying to project.
"These foundations support independence, fairness and the right to speak freely without undue interference," UpScrolled said.
On the platform's lengthy Q&A section, UpScrolled says it does not want to become the Wild West of social media apps, and that it seeks to fight misinformation by targeting "bots, fake accounts, deepfakes and organised propaganda - regardless of viewpoint".
It also insists that despite popularity for those seeking to discuss issues related to Palestine, the platform is not only for activists but rather "everyday people sharing their lives".
UpScrolled is available free for download on the Apple iOS App Store and on Google Play.
