Pop sensation, Lizzo is calling out TikTok for shadow banning her videos. After recovering from strep throat, Lizzo, real name, Melissa Jefferson, returned to the stage. The “Truth Hurts” singer shared a clip of her performance in Baltimore. However, she says she noticed her views on TikTok was uncharacteristically low.
How Did Lizzo Notice?
Jefferson, stitched the highly energetic video and compared her TikTok views to Instagram. She posted the same video and received over 140,000 views in 30 minutes. Now, the Instagram video has skyrocketed to 1.3 million views. The TikTok video has been seen by just 200,000 users. Jefferson captioned that she’s deleting TikTok because it’s “wack.” The singer-songwriter has over 26 million TikTok followers compared to Instagram where 13.4 million people follow her.
What Is Shadow Banning?
Shadow banning is a term commonly used on social media. Users claim that social sites hide their content from timelines for a variety of reasons. Usually the user reports being blindsided by this act. Gabriel Nicholas from The Atlantic reported social media companies deny using the shadow banning tactic, refuting the fact that they hide user’s algorithms. Nichols also cited Black Lives Matter activists who criticized TikTok for hiding content. Since the peak of George Floyd protests, activists have blasted TikTok for their inconsistent views. Nicholas wrote that shadow banning is a concept that is “hard to prove.”
Lizzo’s Next Steps
Jefferson told a user she’s not posting any more “tour footage,” according to Uproxx. Her fans commented under the post and agreed with not seeing her content.
“Throwing tomatoes at the TikTok algorithm,” one user wrote.
Despite Jefferson’s frustration with the beloved app, she’s continued to use it to show support to other women artists. In a recent TikTok post, she expressed gratitude to Beyonce’s Renaissance Tour. Jefferson said she can’t wait to see the show.
“I’m Levitating,” the superstar wrote.