Inauspicious start for US TikTok

TikTok’s explanation about the power outage and “cascading systems failure” came after 24+ hours of online outrage over perceived meddling by the new owner group.

Some users, including huge celebs like Billie Eilish, said that their videos criticizing ICE were stalled in “review” or were receiving shockingly few views. Others said the app wouldn’t allow them to send the word “Epstein” in their DMs. Enough people complained about the “Epstein” issue that a US TikTok rep felt the need to release a separate statement, via NPR, “We don’t have rules against sharing the name ‘Epstein’ in direct messages and are investigating why some users are experiencing issues.”

TikTok’s main statement about the “major infrastructure issue” was posted on a newly-created X account for the joint venture.

In the meantime, there are headlines like this one from CNBC: “TikTok users are deleting the app, with removals up 150% following U.S. joint venture.”

Alternative apps like UpScrolled say they are “struggling to keep up with an influx of new traffic,” The Verge’s Emma Roth reports. Of course, we’ve seen some of this before, namely when TikTok briefly went dark in the US. Most user behavior reverted back to the highly addictive app…

This all stems from a lack of trust

“Even if accusations of TikTok’s censorship are unprovable,” CNN’s Scottie Andrew wrote, “it’s understandable that US users would be increasingly skeptical of the platform in this moment, said Casey Fiesler, an associate professor of technology ethics and internet law at the University of Colorado, Boulder.”

Fiesler: “There’s not a lot of trust in the leadership of social media platforms in general. And given the connection of the new ownership of TikTok to the Trump administration, which is so wrapped up in what is happening with ICE in Minnesota, it’s not surprising that there’s a significant lack of trust.”

In some ways, we’re seeing the inverse of the conservative outcry over alleged “deplatforming” and “shadowbanning” in the Biden years. Some of that was real, some of it was exaggerated, some of it was just imagined — and all of it became a potent, highly motivating political narrative.

Bellwether trial over tech platform addiction starts today

CNN’s Clare Duffy is in L.A. to cover the start of the trial today. “A 19-year-old identified as KGM and her mother, Karen Glenn, are suing TikTok, Meta and Google’s YouTube, alleging that the companies knowingly created addictive features that harmed her mental health and led to self-harm and suicidal thoughts,” Duffy writes.

 >> The trial is expected to last several weeks, and “top executives from Meta, TikTok and YouTube are expected to take the witness stand.” Read on…

Meta testing ‘premium subscriptions’

This could be a very big deal down the line: Meta “plans to test new subscriptions that give people access to exclusive features” inside Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, TechCrunch’s Aisha Malik reports. “While keeping the core experiences free,” the company’s tests will see how many people are willing to pay for distinctive features, like AI video creation tools…

Videos of killing cause major ‘shift’ in Minnesota

The Minnesota Star Tribune’s big homepage headline this morning: “Border czar Tom Homan’s arrival in Minnesota signals shift by Trump administration.” 

One of the most telling signs of the shift: CNN exclusively reported last night that DHS had suspended Gregory Bovino’s access to his social media accounts.

Did “Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade give Trump the idea to send Homan to Minnesota? It’s certainly possible, given what we know about the president’s relationship with his favorite TV show.

Yesterday morning, Kilmeade pitched Homan as a solution to Trump’s problems at 6:15 a.m. ET. Kilmeade brought it up again at 7:15. And again at 8:10. Twenty minutes after that third mention, Trump announced Homan’s new assignment.

Maybe it’s just a coincidence. But as I wrote in the 2020 book “Hoax,” Kilmeade is keenly aware of his influence on the president…

 >> Related: “Over the weekend, Trump took note of conservative media figures, including Fox News host Maria Bartiromo, who criticized the rhetoric” from Noem et al, WaPo’s Isaac Arnsdorf and Natalie Allison report.

MAGA media frets about optics

As I wrote here for CNN.com, the dominant pro-Trump media concern has been about “optics,” about “messaging,” about “narrative” — asserting that the admin’s handling of the Pretti shooting has damaged a just and important immigration enforcement crackdown.

Now, as Americans wonder if the “Battle for Minneapolis” is nearing an end, MAGA media’s pro-ICE energy is moving toward other states and cities. As Kilmeade put it, “there’s a lot more criminals out there.” 

MAGA media stars are also pushing the idea that anti-ICE organizers in Minnesota are among the criminals. One of Breitbart’s top headlines this morning is “Kash Patel: FBI Investigating Minneapolis Democrats’ Activist Networks.” This is predicated on a viral X post from MAGA influencer Cam Higby about “organizational Signal groups all around Minneapolis.”

”As soon as Higby put that post out, I opened an investigation on it,” Patel told Benny Johnson yesterday.

DOJ yanks request for Don Lemon arrest warrant, but…

The DOJ “has formally withdrawn its request for the chief judge in Minnesota’s federal court to issue arrest warrants for journalist Don Lemon and four others” over the Jan. 18 church disruption, CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz reports.

Lemon says he was simply there as a journalist. “Despite their withdrawal, the DOJ can still attempt to bring charges against Lemon, including through a grand jury indictment. Officials have not publicly said what their plans are moving forward.” 

All-hands meeting at CBS News today

“Please join Bari Weiss to talk about the future of CBS News,” the invite says. An internal meeting like this was originally expected to take place back before the new year, but the plans kept getting pushed back. Thus this will be “the first time Weiss addresses the entire network, including its various bureaus, to ‘share her vision for the network’s future,’” the NY Post’s Alexandra Steigrad wrote, citing a source.

The vision seems to involve making CBS more like The Free Press. Weiss will be announcing new CBS contributors today, some of whom already write for her other media outlet.

“She intends to hire approximately 18 paid commentators,” per NPR’s David Folkenflik, who also reports that Weiss “is also expected to make significant cuts to the newsroom.” I’m told Weiss is not planning to announce those cuts today, though I imagine staffers will try to ask about it.

 >> Weiss “only wants top-flight performers committed to her approach to stick around,” Folkenflik adds.

WaPo journalists lobby Bezos

Some Washington Post reporters are staging a public pressure campaign targeting owner Jeff Bezos amid looming reports of steep newsroom cuts, especially to the sports and foreign desks. They’re using the hashtag #SaveThePost. One such post came from Siobhan O’Grady, the Post’s Ukraine bureau chief, who wrote,“Hi @JeffBezos. We will never forget your support for our essential work documenting the war in Ukraine, which still rages. Your wife has called our team ‘badass beacons of hope.’ We risk our lives for the stories our readers demand. Please believe in us and #SaveThePost.” Mediaite collected a bunch more here…

 >> The Post “is reversing course on its Winter Olympics plans — again,” ultimately deciding to send four journalists to cover the games, Erik Wemple and Ben Mullin report.

Today’s new nonfiction releases

Happy pub day to Jason Zengerle, whose long-awaited book about Tucker Carlson is out today. The title comes from one of Carlson’s many boasts: “Hated by All the Right People.”

 >> Gov. Josh Shapiro is making the TV rounds for his book, “Where We Keep the Light: Stories from a Life of Service,” also out today.

 >> Other new releases I’m eyeing today: BBC reporter Joe Tidy’s “Ctrl + Alt + Chaos: How Teenage Hackers Hijack the Internet,” Spencer Pratt’s “The Guy You Loved to Hate: Confessions from a Reality TV Villain,” and, just in time for Valentine’s Day, evolutionary biologist Justin R. Garcia’s “The Intimate Animal: The Science of Sex, Fidelity, and Why We Live and Die for Love.”

 >> Last year, the Philadelphia Inquirer “had its first year-over-year increase in revenue since 2004, and an operating profit of several million,” publisher Elizabeth Hughes reveals in a column about how other papers can grow their way to profitability. (Inquirer)

>> “USA TODAY Co., owner of the Detroit Free Press, will acquire The Detroit News and continue to publish it separately.” (Detroit News)

 >> Across the pond, the BBC “will face ‘profound jeopardy’ over its future unless it embraces significant changes to its funding,” outgoing director-general Tim Davie said in an interview with Michael Savage. (The Guardian)

 >> This is unfortunate: “BBC News is closing BBC Trending, an investigative journalism team tasked with shedding light on the darker side of social media,” Jake Kanter reports. (Deadline)

VF talks to Kanye after public apology

Vanity Fair’s Anna Peele writes: “On Monday, the artist formerly known as Kanye West took out a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal to publish a letter apologizing for his behavior during what he says was a four-month manic episode that took place in the first half of 2025.”

VF published Peele’s exclusive follow-up interview with him this morning. He insists this apology tour is not “about reviving my commerciality,” though he also plugs his next album…

A few Hollywood headlines

 >> A major reorg of Amazon MGM Studios’ TV division is underway. (THR)

 >> On “Late Night with Seth Meyers” last night, Stephen Colbert said his final “Late Show” episode will air on Thursday, May 21. (LateNighter)

 >> Elsewhere in late night, Zohran Mamdani stopped by Jimmy Fallon’s show. (YouTube)

 >> The UFC kicked off its Paramount+ partnership with “a live average minute audience of 4.96 million views during the main card” on Saturday. (Variety)

 >> Heads up, “Handmaid’s Tale” fans: Hulu’s “The Testaments” will drop its first three episodes on April 8. (Variety)

>> And last but certainly not least, a “new twist” in Nielsen’s “estimations of the total number of people watching television by medium is likely to result in a bigger cable audience overall,” Brian Steinberg writes. (Variety)