May 16, 2025 • 14 mins
Is TikTok really becoming a free speech platform? Or just pretending to?
In this episode of Stay in the Gray, Ryan Lafield breaks down TikTok’s latest PR stunt—restructuring its U.S. Content Advisory Council to “embrace free expression.” But behind the headlines? It’s business as usual: censorship, algorithmic suppression, and selective enforcement based on follower count.
🎙 Topics in this episode:
– Shadowbans, content flags, and false guideline strikes
– Why TikTok punishes small creators but protects big accounts
– ByteDance, China, and political content they don’t want you posting
– 500 million+ videos removed in 2024—and what they’re not telling you
– The push for U.S. regulation, digital tariffs, and actual accountability
From personal censorship experiences to big-picture geopolitical influence, this episode hits harder than any community guideline ever could.
If you’ve ever felt silenced online, this one’s for you.
Hit play—and then share it before they decide it’s “misinformation.”
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Make it make sense. TikTok, unless you're a part of
their influencer elite class or you bring in a lot of ad
revenue, you're held to a different standard.
The rules do not apply equally, they apply algorithmically like
that. TikTok is not becoming a free
speech platform, it's becoming acontrolled speech flat platform
(00:21):
with just better PR. True free speech doesn't mean
you're safe when you're popular,It means you're equal when
you're not. Hey guys, May the 15th, it
reached 100° here in Dallas, TX.The summer is upon us.
I'm fed up with TikTok and so I feel like a few things need to
(00:42):
be said. I want to talk about the
hypocrisy. I want to talk about the fact
that they're a Chinese company. I want to talk about all sorts
of taking advantage of the people that use it and the money
that's spent on it. I'm talking about this app that
has the kids taken by storm, talking about the app that made
Addison Rae famous for lip syncing and her sweatpants, and
(01:04):
they're now pretending that you're the next Free Speech
frontier. They've restructured their US
Content Advisory Council to lookmore diverse and not in the
usual DEI checkbox kind of way. This time it it includes
Libertarian and conservative voices to add on to their
already liberal voice. And to that I say, adorable.
(01:26):
We're going to take a real look at what what's actually going
on. Let's roll.
Tik Tok's content Advisory Council now features names like
David and Serra. I think I said that, right?
And Corbin Bartholed and these guys openly advocate for free
speech. The headline reads like a win.
TikTok moves toward open dialogue.
(01:49):
The translation TikTok is scrambling to avoid another U.S.
government crackdown. Because, let's be honest, they
don't care about your voice. They care about not getting
banned. the United States makes up quite a bit of that platform.
There's a reason this move and their strategy is happening
right now. Tik Tok's parent company, Byte
Dance, is under fire, the resultof the Supreme Court ruling and
(02:12):
TikTok ver. TikTok V.
Garland upheld the constitutionality of federal
law. the US government basicallysaid sell it, we'll shut you
down. Suddenly, magically, TikTok
became the champion of American values.
Please, this isn't freedom. This is survival instinct in a
(02:34):
suit. Here's where it gets personal to
me. I'm a smallish podcast.
Got a base. I'm always trying to grow that
base like anybody would. I've been flagged repeatedly on
TikTok videos, pulled down strikes against me, suspensions
for a couple of days, community guideline strikes and then no
(02:57):
explanation. Occasionally they'll say you
know, drug policy was was brokenwhen all I did is bring
awareness to an opioid problem we have in this country.
But apparently I'm pushing drugs.
That's the point. Context is void.
There's no human review right away.
It's just a bot that can't tell satire from sedition.
(03:18):
And don't even try and write them to explain.
I've done this many times. It's a fucking quest.
Frodo had an easier time gettinga Mordor.
It's about context. I would love to explain.
Hey look, I think you your algorithms misread what I was
trying to say. I was simply saying that we need
to be aware that there's a drug issue.
Having a picture of somebody using drugs is called impactful.
(03:42):
It's an aesthetic. It's a visual effect, if you
will, to try and get people to pay attention.
That's what you want on your platform.
I thought, no breaking anything.I'm not saying, hey, check this
out, this looks fun. Make it easier to get a hold of
somebody if you're going to do this.
And meanwhile, there are literally live users side by
(04:03):
side that do these live, you know, and they they come in
together. Both their accounts are on the
screen and they're arguing mostly these days about
politics. When you had leading up to the
debate, you had for a while, it was Biden and Trump.
Then you had Harris and Trump people arguing and the
backgrounds were red and blue for the different parties.
And then you had people coming in and typing in and saying
(04:25):
whatever. And I tell you what, they use
language and tone that Tarantinowould cringe cringe at.
I mean F bombs and slurs and just unfiltered chaos on these
debates arguments. No flag, no ban, no nothing.
They get away with it on the live shows but I call someone
daft in a comment with text to someone responding to my video
(04:52):
and boom violation. Make it make sense.
TikTok. Unless you're a part of their
influencer elite class or you bring in a lot of ad revenue,
you're held to a different standard.
The rules do not apply equally. They apply algorithmically like
that. They say they're fixing it.
They say they're adding in a footnotes to allow context.
(05:15):
Really. Then why is my context buried
even after my appeals are approved?
I'll submit an appeal and 90% ofthe time, about 5 minutes later,
they're like, yeah, OK, click. They bring it back, but the
view's dead, the reach gone. It's like starting all over.
It's like Tik Tok's algorithm holds a grudge because I may or
(05:36):
may not have broken their rules.And then you have to dig out of
the hole and get people to to tostart viewing again.
Here's the kicker. When once it happens that there
is no way back, there's not. You can't reset.
It's not a redemption. TikTok doesn't say we're as
sorry. Maybe we'll toss it out to a few
more people for you. The account is just quietly like
(05:58):
throttled, sitting in void somewhere until you again, work
your way back out. It's like starting over and it's
frustrating. And this is from the platform,
by the way, who admittedly bragsabout how much it censors.
Check this out. 2024 alone, TikTok removed over 500 million
videos for violating its policies.
(06:20):
That's half a billion videos notflagged or reviewed, just
yanked. Removed.
But tell me again how they're becoming a free speech platform.
They've also poured over $2 billion into trust and safety.
What does that buy you exactly? Endless hate speech refreshers?
(06:42):
Implicit bias training in coursematerials so watered down it
could have been written by HR bot in San Francisco.
They claim they're fighting anti-Semitism and Islamophobia,
which fine, great, but what are they really finding?
Context, nuance, and anyone who doesn't fit with their
ideological playbook. Because what looks like safety
(07:04):
on the surface often just means more ways to censor the wrong
opinions. Let's talk about China.
I've been waiting for this. Is it a conspiracy lane?
I don't know. Is it?
TikTok is owned by Byte Dance. Byte Dance is based in China.
It's no secret that China US relationships aren't the best.
TikTok is no different. Do you really think that that
(07:28):
government wants free speech flourishing through their
platform from the USAI? Don't think so.
They claim political content violates their rules.
And besides those live debates Ijust mentioned previously, let's
talk about their hashtags. Hashtag politics. 4.5 million
posts. Hashtag politics TikTok 316,000
(07:54):
posts #tik T.O.K politics and reverse it. 30,000 posts.
And that's just what they didn'tscrub.
So either they're incompetent ortheir no politics rule means no
politics that make China look bad.
They want us fighting. They love watching our country
yell at each other and hate our president and love our
(08:16):
president. Trust me, I've seen creators
silenced for daring to mention Taiwan, the CCP, or anything
that disrupts their narrative. Meanwhile, domestic outrage and
culture war content push it, promote it, let it burn.
Let's not ignore the timing either.
The moment the US ramps up tariffs and cracks down on
(08:39):
Chinese tech, TikTok starts spreading around like it's the
Statue of Liberty. We're out here taxing EVs and
semiconductors, and what we needto be doing is tariffing digital
propaganda while we're at it. Tik Tok's idea of free speech is
to post anything as long as it'snot inconvenient for Beijing.
Tik Tok's pretending they're theproblem and the solution.
(09:02):
They censor speech and create councils to review the
censorship. They build algorithms to flag
nuance, then act shocked when the creators leave.
And now they want to say we're becoming a platform for open
debate. What they really mean is we'll
tolerate more opinions as long as it doesn't interfere with our
revenue or Beijing's mood. So no, Tiktok is not becoming a
(09:24):
free speech platform. It's becoming a controlled
speech flat platform with just better PR.
And if you've ever had content flagged for literally nothing,
then you already know this and you're frustrated like I am.
So much so that I felt like I needed to do a show about it.
True free speech doesn't mean you're safe when you're popular.
(09:46):
It means you'll equal when you're not.
If you've ever felt shadow banned, silenced gas lit by a
robot, you're not crazy. You're not alone.
Go on TikTok, try and find me there if you if you want, stay
in the great podcast. You already know that.
And you know, hit, hit, hit likes, share it, you know, move
this around and let's stand up to this a little bit.
(10:08):
They're not going to like this. I don't plan on promoting it
there. But again, we're all in this.
I mean, we're, we're Americans. And yes, it's TikTok, but it's
still an example of being taken advantage of with an addiction
in this, in this world, which issocial media, scrolling through
(10:29):
shorts and reels and all these things.
And if we're going to be on thatplatform, then we need to know
what's going on. We need to feel comfortable with
it. And we need to know that our
opinions are equal to anybody else's.
And that's all I'm fighting for.We didn't even get into the fact
that China could be spying through TikTok.
That's another show. Let's not start a digital war
(10:52):
with China. I'm staying in the great
podcast, but again, share it, tag it.
Hit me up on YouTube and TikTok and hit me up on Instagram and
Facebook and all the above. X, I'm flying around X like it's
that place is insane. That's a whole other topic.
Free speech is definitely allowed there, let me tell you.
(11:14):
And adding on to all of this is a personal experience I had.
I mentioned to you guys before that I've gone through scammers
and one of them, the main one, started on TikTok where they're
feeding on people like me, people like us who are
(11:37):
complaining and who are Privy totheir hypocrisy and the way that
they run things. So when someone approaches you,
when all you're trying to do is grow your account and they say,
hey, I got you, I'll make your account great.
There's a way to do it. And you're unfamiliar with
TikTok, say you've just got on it, I don't know, about a month
prior, which is what happened. And you go, all right, this
(11:59):
sounds great, go ahead. No terms or nothing.
I thought it was a quick tweak and then you find yourself in
the hole in this pit that you can't climb out of because it's
almost like they can impact youraccount.
This guy, I'm not so sure it's not a group of people and I'm
not so sure that they aren't affiliated with TikTok in some
way. I'm not making that claim.
(12:21):
I'm just saying it's a possibility.
But when you come at me and you say I can do this and you look,
there's no way this person or this group has 600,000 followers
with one post. There's something that they're
doing, there's some way around it.
And, and when I went to report them, TikTok said we, we find no
(12:42):
violation. So either TikTok is aware of
these or they want them or it's a way that TikTok makes extra
money, which wouldn't surprise me or they just don't care
because somehow this other person may be bringing in some
sort of revenue. But we have to be careful of
severe things as well. Not just I'm mad that you gave
(13:05):
me a strike because I called hima Doo Doo face.
There are some legit scammers and legit fraud going on on
TikTok. And if you aren't aware of it or
you fall into it like I did, be out of desperation to grow with
the goal of monetizing, then it's your easy prey.
And I was easy prey. And I swear if I ever find out
(13:28):
who this was and I never will, I've thought about putting
together some investigation. I've got a lot of records of
transactions that took place andwe'll see.
Is it worth it? I don't know.
Maybe you just need to learn from these experiences and move
on. So heed my warning.
But but that's it. I mean, it's a lot.
There's a lot to it. And I just want everybody to be
(13:49):
aware and to think about TikTok before parading around throwing
all your information out there. So again, if you ever felt
Shadow banned, silenced, gas litby a robot, you're not crazy.
You're not alone. Share this tag TikTok in it.
(14:09):
Let them know. Let them know we see it.
Let them know we're done pretending that we don't.
So until next time, stay pissed,stay loud, stay inquisitive,
please stay laughing, stay in the grave.
Love you guys.
Make it make sense. TikTok, unless you're a part of
their influencer elite class or you bring in a lot of ad
revenue, you're held to a different standard.
The rules do not apply equally, they apply algorithmically like
that. TikTok is not becoming a free
speech platform, it's becoming acontrolled speech flat platform
(00:21):
with just better PR. True free speech doesn't mean
you're safe when you're popular,It means you're equal when
you're not. Hey guys, May the 15th, it
reached 100° here in Dallas, TX.The summer is upon us.
I'm fed up with TikTok and so I feel like a few things need to
(00:42):
be said. I want to talk about the
hypocrisy. I want to talk about the fact
that they're a Chinese company. I want to talk about all sorts
of taking advantage of the people that use it and the money
that's spent on it. I'm talking about this app that
has the kids taken by storm, talking about the app that made
Addison Rae famous for lip syncing and her sweatpants, and
(01:04):
they're now pretending that you're the next Free Speech
frontier. They've restructured their US
Content Advisory Council to lookmore diverse and not in the
usual DEI checkbox kind of way. This time it it includes
Libertarian and conservative voices to add on to their
already liberal voice. And to that I say, adorable.
(01:26):
We're going to take a real look at what what's actually going
on. Let's roll.
Tik Tok's content Advisory Council now features names like
David and Serra. I think I said that, right?
And Corbin Bartholed and these guys openly advocate for free
speech. The headline reads like a win.
TikTok moves toward open dialogue.
(01:49):
The translation TikTok is scrambling to avoid another U.S.
government crackdown. Because, let's be honest, they
don't care about your voice. They care about not getting
banned. the United States makes up quite a bit of that platform.
There's a reason this move and their strategy is happening
right now. Tik Tok's parent company, Byte
Dance, is under fire, the resultof the Supreme Court ruling and
(02:12):
TikTok ver. TikTok V.
Garland upheld the constitutionality of federal
law. the US government basicallysaid sell it, we'll shut you
down. Suddenly, magically, TikTok
became the champion of American values.
Please, this isn't freedom. This is survival instinct in a
(02:34):
suit. Here's where it gets personal to
me. I'm a smallish podcast.
Got a base. I'm always trying to grow that
base like anybody would. I've been flagged repeatedly on
TikTok videos, pulled down strikes against me, suspensions
for a couple of days, community guideline strikes and then no
(02:57):
explanation. Occasionally they'll say you
know, drug policy was was brokenwhen all I did is bring
awareness to an opioid problem we have in this country.
But apparently I'm pushing drugs.
That's the point. Context is void.
There's no human review right away.
It's just a bot that can't tell satire from sedition.
(03:18):
And don't even try and write them to explain.
I've done this many times. It's a fucking quest.
Frodo had an easier time gettinga Mordor.
It's about context. I would love to explain.
Hey look, I think you your algorithms misread what I was
trying to say. I was simply saying that we need
to be aware that there's a drug issue.
Having a picture of somebody using drugs is called impactful.
(03:42):
It's an aesthetic. It's a visual effect, if you
will, to try and get people to pay attention.
That's what you want on your platform.
I thought, no breaking anything.I'm not saying, hey, check this
out, this looks fun. Make it easier to get a hold of
somebody if you're going to do this.
And meanwhile, there are literally live users side by
(04:03):
side that do these live, you know, and they they come in
together. Both their accounts are on the
screen and they're arguing mostly these days about
politics. When you had leading up to the
debate, you had for a while, it was Biden and Trump.
Then you had Harris and Trump people arguing and the
backgrounds were red and blue for the different parties.
And then you had people coming in and typing in and saying
(04:25):
whatever. And I tell you what, they use
language and tone that Tarantinowould cringe cringe at.
I mean F bombs and slurs and just unfiltered chaos on these
debates arguments. No flag, no ban, no nothing.
They get away with it on the live shows but I call someone
daft in a comment with text to someone responding to my video
(04:52):
and boom violation. Make it make sense.
TikTok. Unless you're a part of their
influencer elite class or you bring in a lot of ad revenue,
you're held to a different standard.
The rules do not apply equally. They apply algorithmically like
that. They say they're fixing it.
They say they're adding in a footnotes to allow context.
(05:15):
Really. Then why is my context buried
even after my appeals are approved?
I'll submit an appeal and 90% ofthe time, about 5 minutes later,
they're like, yeah, OK, click. They bring it back, but the
view's dead, the reach gone. It's like starting all over.
It's like Tik Tok's algorithm holds a grudge because I may or
(05:36):
may not have broken their rules.And then you have to dig out of
the hole and get people to to tostart viewing again.
Here's the kicker. When once it happens that there
is no way back, there's not. You can't reset.
It's not a redemption. TikTok doesn't say we're as
sorry. Maybe we'll toss it out to a few
more people for you. The account is just quietly like
(05:58):
throttled, sitting in void somewhere until you again, work
your way back out. It's like starting over and it's
frustrating. And this is from the platform,
by the way, who admittedly bragsabout how much it censors.
Check this out. 2024 alone, TikTok removed over 500 million
videos for violating its policies.
(06:20):
That's half a billion videos notflagged or reviewed, just
yanked. Removed.
But tell me again how they're becoming a free speech platform.
They've also poured over $2 billion into trust and safety.
What does that buy you exactly? Endless hate speech refreshers?
(06:42):
Implicit bias training in coursematerials so watered down it
could have been written by HR bot in San Francisco.
They claim they're fighting anti-Semitism and Islamophobia,
which fine, great, but what are they really finding?
Context, nuance, and anyone who doesn't fit with their
ideological playbook. Because what looks like safety
(07:04):
on the surface often just means more ways to censor the wrong
opinions. Let's talk about China.
I've been waiting for this. Is it a conspiracy lane?
I don't know. Is it?
TikTok is owned by Byte Dance. Byte Dance is based in China.
It's no secret that China US relationships aren't the best.
TikTok is no different. Do you really think that that
(07:28):
government wants free speech flourishing through their
platform from the USAI? Don't think so.
They claim political content violates their rules.
And besides those live debates Ijust mentioned previously, let's
talk about their hashtags. Hashtag politics. 4.5 million
posts. Hashtag politics TikTok 316,000
(07:54):
posts #tik T.O.K politics and reverse it. 30,000 posts.
And that's just what they didn'tscrub.
So either they're incompetent ortheir no politics rule means no
politics that make China look bad.
They want us fighting. They love watching our country
yell at each other and hate our president and love our
(08:16):
president. Trust me, I've seen creators
silenced for daring to mention Taiwan, the CCP, or anything
that disrupts their narrative. Meanwhile, domestic outrage and
culture war content push it, promote it, let it burn.
Let's not ignore the timing either.
The moment the US ramps up tariffs and cracks down on
(08:39):
Chinese tech, TikTok starts spreading around like it's the
Statue of Liberty. We're out here taxing EVs and
semiconductors, and what we needto be doing is tariffing digital
propaganda while we're at it. Tik Tok's idea of free speech is
to post anything as long as it'snot inconvenient for Beijing.
Tik Tok's pretending they're theproblem and the solution.
(09:02):
They censor speech and create councils to review the
censorship. They build algorithms to flag
nuance, then act shocked when the creators leave.
And now they want to say we're becoming a platform for open
debate. What they really mean is we'll
tolerate more opinions as long as it doesn't interfere with our
revenue or Beijing's mood. So no, Tiktok is not becoming a
(09:24):
free speech platform. It's becoming a controlled
speech flat platform with just better PR.
And if you've ever had content flagged for literally nothing,
then you already know this and you're frustrated like I am.
So much so that I felt like I needed to do a show about it.
True free speech doesn't mean you're safe when you're popular.
(09:46):
It means you'll equal when you're not.
If you've ever felt shadow banned, silenced gas lit by a
robot, you're not crazy. You're not alone.
Go on TikTok, try and find me there if you if you want, stay
in the great podcast. You already know that.
And you know, hit, hit, hit likes, share it, you know, move
this around and let's stand up to this a little bit.
(10:08):
They're not going to like this. I don't plan on promoting it
there. But again, we're all in this.
I mean, we're, we're Americans. And yes, it's TikTok, but it's
still an example of being taken advantage of with an addiction
in this, in this world, which issocial media, scrolling through
(10:29):
shorts and reels and all these things.
And if we're going to be on thatplatform, then we need to know
what's going on. We need to feel comfortable with
it. And we need to know that our
opinions are equal to anybody else's.
And that's all I'm fighting for.We didn't even get into the fact
that China could be spying through TikTok.
That's another show. Let's not start a digital war
(10:52):
with China. I'm staying in the great
podcast, but again, share it, tag it.
Hit me up on YouTube and TikTok and hit me up on Instagram and
Facebook and all the above. X, I'm flying around X like it's
that place is insane. That's a whole other topic.
Free speech is definitely allowed there, let me tell you.
(11:14):
And adding on to all of this is a personal experience I had.
I mentioned to you guys before that I've gone through scammers
and one of them, the main one, started on TikTok where they're
feeding on people like me, people like us who are
(11:37):
complaining and who are Privy totheir hypocrisy and the way that
they run things. So when someone approaches you,
when all you're trying to do is grow your account and they say,
hey, I got you, I'll make your account great.
There's a way to do it. And you're unfamiliar with
TikTok, say you've just got on it, I don't know, about a month
prior, which is what happened. And you go, all right, this
(11:59):
sounds great, go ahead. No terms or nothing.
I thought it was a quick tweak and then you find yourself in
the hole in this pit that you can't climb out of because it's
almost like they can impact youraccount.
This guy, I'm not so sure it's not a group of people and I'm
not so sure that they aren't affiliated with TikTok in some
way. I'm not making that claim.
(12:21):
I'm just saying it's a possibility.
But when you come at me and you say I can do this and you look,
there's no way this person or this group has 600,000 followers
with one post. There's something that they're
doing, there's some way around it.
And, and when I went to report them, TikTok said we, we find no
(12:42):
violation. So either TikTok is aware of
these or they want them or it's a way that TikTok makes extra
money, which wouldn't surprise me or they just don't care
because somehow this other person may be bringing in some
sort of revenue. But we have to be careful of
severe things as well. Not just I'm mad that you gave
(13:05):
me a strike because I called hima Doo Doo face.
There are some legit scammers and legit fraud going on on
TikTok. And if you aren't aware of it or
you fall into it like I did, be out of desperation to grow with
the goal of monetizing, then it's your easy prey.
And I was easy prey. And I swear if I ever find out
(13:28):
who this was and I never will, I've thought about putting
together some investigation. I've got a lot of records of
transactions that took place andwe'll see.
Is it worth it? I don't know.
Maybe you just need to learn from these experiences and move
on. So heed my warning.
But but that's it. I mean, it's a lot.
There's a lot to it. And I just want everybody to be
(13:49):
aware and to think about TikTok before parading around throwing
all your information out there. So again, if you ever felt
Shadow banned, silenced, gas litby a robot, you're not crazy.
You're not alone. Share this tag TikTok in it.
(14:09):
Let them know. Let them know we see it.
Let them know we're done pretending that we don't.
So until next time, stay pissed,stay loud, stay inquisitive,
please stay laughing, stay in the grave.
Love you guys.
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