UpScrolled’s founder says the social network has zoomed past 2.5M users

UpScrolled, a social network that rose to prominence following changes to TikTok’s ownership in the U.S. earlier this year, has surpassed 2.5 million users worldwide, according to founder Issam Hijazi, who shared the update during his appearance at Web Summit Qatar.

“We launched roughly six months ago and had grown to around 150,000 users up until early January,” Hijazi said. “Then, over the last few days, we crossed more than one million users globally. And as of today, we’ve now passed two-and-a-half million users worldwide.”

UpScrolled positions itself as a hybrid of Instagram and X, branding the platform as a space that welcomes all viewpoints. The company says it supports a wide range of content and does not engage in shadowbanning or selective censorship of users.

In his remarks, Hijazi criticised major technology companies, accusing them of unethical behaviour and of prioritising profits over user well-being. He claimed that large social platforms routinely sell user data and selectively suppress certain viewpoints, including pro-Palestinian content.

“They don’t care about selling your data to someone else if it makes them money,” Hijazi said. “They also don’t care about mental health — they’ll design systems purely to keep people addicted as long as it remains profitable.”

Some users on rival platforms have raised concerns about the presence of explicit content on UpScrolled, including pornography and nudity. Hijazi acknowledged those criticisms, stating that while the platform will avoid algorithmic amplification or suppression of viewpoints, it will enforce community guidelines to comply with legal requirements across different regions.

He added that the company is assembling a group of experts to formalise its moderation policies and is actively incorporating user feedback into that effort.

UpScrolled has not publicly disclosed any funding rounds to date, but Hijazi said the platform has attracted investor interest.

The company’s rapid growth followed a major shift involving TikTok earlier this year. In January, TikTok adopted a new ownership structure in the United States, with a consortium led by Silver Lake and Oracle taking a majority stake, while ByteDance retained a 20% ownership share. The change prompted many users to explore alternative social platforms.

In addition to UpScrolled, other networks also saw increased attention during that period. AT Protocol–based Skylight gained traction, crossing 380,000 users in the days following the finalisation of the TikTok deal.

While platforms like UpScrolled may have benefited from a short-term influx of users driven by changes at TikTok, sustaining that growth will require long-term investment in features, community building, and governance. These platforms will also need to establish moderation frameworks and make content decisions that may not always align with user expectations—a challenge Bluesky has faced over the past several years.