America's No. 2 App Erases Israel
The fast-growing UpScrolled promises free speech and neutrality, but its interface tells a different story, replacing the Israel location marker with "Occupied Territories of Palestine"
UpScrolled, a fast-rising social media app billing itself as a “no censorship” alternative to Instagram and TikTok, has rocketed to No. 2 among free apps in Apple’s U.S. App Store in recent days. But the platform’s sudden ascent is now colliding with a more controversial reality. In its location and discovery systems, UpScrolled erases Israel, labeling searches for Israel and Israeli cities under “Occupied Palestine” or “Occupied Palestinian Territories,” according to tests run by Jewish Onliner.
Critics note that the labeling choice is significant because it is not merely about user content. On most platforms, geopolitical arguments play out in posts and comments. On UpScrolled, the dispute appears embedded into the product itself, pushing an anti-Israel viewpoint through taxonomy, topic clustering, and authoritative labels. Those choices shape which communities surface, which posts trend, and how information is organized.
Tech for Palestine Incubator Helped Build UpScrolled
UpScrolled was built by Issam Hijazi, a Palestinian-Australian technologist, and is operated by an Australian company called Recursive Methods Pty Ltd. The app’s website states that it is privately funded by Hijazi with a small group of unnamed investors. “There is no corporate, government, or VC ownership today,” it continues.
However, the app was “supported” by Tech for Palestine, a pro-Palestinian advocacy incubator, according to its website. Anti-Israel influencer Guy Christensen similarly posted in September 2025 that “We are building UpScrolled, an app not dominated by a billionaire that protects your free speech. Issam Hijazi built it himself from scratch with help from Tom Hall with Tech 4 Palestine.”
That connection matters because it challenges UpScrolled’s pitch of political neutrality. A platform can claim impartiality while still being shaped organizationally, culturally, and strategically by advocacy infrastructure. The Israel-labeling issue, critics argue, is the most tangible proof point.
A Founder on an Al Jazeera Stage With Hamas and Iran
Hijazi’s network and public positioning are now drawing scrutiny. As Jewish Onliner previously reported, Hijazi is listed as a speaker at the 17th Al Jazeera Forum, scheduled for February 7 through 9, 2026, a conference run under the Al Jazeera Media Network umbrella.
The Forum’s published program includes a keynote speech by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and lists Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal as a featured speaker. Hijazi is scheduled on a panel focused on platforms and funding in the influencer ecosystem.
For critics, the optics are difficult to ignore. A “no censorship” app that is rapidly climbing Western app charts is being led by an entrepreneur simultaneously appearing at an Al Jazeera event where the official program features senior Iranian regime and Hamas leaders.
AJ+ Promotion and Qatar’s Role
UpScrolled’s momentum has been amplified by AJ+, Al Jazeera’s social-first digital brand, which released upbeat segments in both English and Arabic highlighting the app as an alternative for users worried about “censorship and platform control.”
In a widely reported September 2020 DOJ letter, the Justice Department wrote that AJ+ acted “at the direction and control” of Qatar’s leaders and that Al Jazeera Media Network and its affiliates were “controlled and funded by the Government of Qatar.”
The timing and tone of AJ+’s promotion, paired with UpScrolled’s erasure of Israel inside the app, raises concerns about what kind of “free speech” ecosystem is being built, who is cheering it on, and what politics are being hardwired into the next wave of social platforms.
It will be a hate free-for-all and as distasteful as that is maybe it will redirect the feral Islamists posting hate, disinformation and calls to violence on all the other social media platforms. The only thing that I find very worrying is how it could attract those who aren't already radicalsed and the damage it could do. Just my 2 cents.
Who owns it? That's more important