UpScrolled’s Social Network Is Struggling To Moderate Hate Speech After Fast Growth

UpScrolled Moderation Fails as Hate Speech Spreads

What is UpScrolled, and why is it struggling with hate speech? UpScrolled is a fast-growing social network that gained millions of users after TikTok's ownership shifted in the U.S. But its rapid expansion has exposed serious moderation gaps. Racial slurs now appear in usernames, hashtags, and posts, while extremist content glorifying figures like Hitler remains visible days after being reported—raising urgent questions about platform safety and accountability.

Credit: UpScrolled

Why UpScrolled's User Base Exploded Overnight

UpScrolled's growth trajectory defied typical social media adoption curves. In January 2026 alone, the platform surged past 2.5 million active users—a direct response to uncertainty surrounding TikTok's U.S. operations. Many creators and everyday users migrated seeking continuity for their communities and content libraries.

This migration wasn't gradual. It happened in concentrated waves as policy announcements triggered platform-switching behavior. Unlike organic growth that allows engineering and trust/safety teams to scale incrementally, UpScrolled faced an infrastructure stress test overnight. User onboarding systems handled the load, but content moderation frameworks did not.

The platform's minimalist design—emphasizing vertical video and algorithmic discovery—made it an easy transition for TikTok refugees. Yet that same simplicity became a vulnerability. Without robust pre-publishing filters or layered reporting mechanisms, harmful content slipped through at scale.

What Types of Harmful Content Are Appearing

Investigative review of the platform uncovered multiple categories of unmoderated hate speech. Most visibly, usernames themselves became vectors for abuse. Accounts featured explicit racial slurs as standalone handles, combinations of slurs with common words, and even multiple slurs concatenated into single identifiers. Some profiles displayed overtly extremist messaging like "Glory to Hitler" without triggering automatic rejection during registration.

Beyond profile names, hashtags emerged as another weak point. Users created and promoted tags containing slurs to aggregate harmful content. These tags then appeared in algorithmic recommendations, exposing unsuspecting users—especially younger audiences—to targeted harassment.

Text posts and multimedia content further amplified the problem. Screenshots and videos glorifying Nazi ideology circulated alongside captions using dehumanizing language. Unlike platforms with proactive AI detection for known extremist imagery, UpScrolled's systems failed to flag or remove this material even after multiple user reports.

Critically, this content wasn't buried in obscure corners of the app. It surfaced in "For You"-style feeds where algorithmic amplification rewarded engagement—regardless of whether that engagement came from genuine interest or outrage-driven clicks.

The Moderation Gap: Automated Systems vs. Human Review

UpScrolled's moderation challenge stems from a classic scaling dilemma. The platform relied heavily on automated filters designed for smaller user volumes. These systems use keyword blacklists and image recognition trained on limited datasets. When confronted with millions of new users generating diverse content—including deliberate attempts to evade filters—these tools proved inadequate.

Human moderation teams faced impossible odds. With growth outpacing hiring by orders of magnitude, reviewers became backlogged within days. Reports submitted through the platform's public email channel received generic responses acknowledging the issue but showing little evidence of timely action. Accounts documented with screenshots of slurs remained active for over 72 hours post-report—a critical window during which harmful content gained visibility and engagement.

The absence of in-app reporting with status tracking compounded user frustration. Unlike established platforms that provide reference numbers and estimated review times, UpScrolled offered no transparency into whether reports were seen, prioritized, or acted upon. This opacity eroded trust precisely when user vigilance was most needed.

Company Response and Timeline of Actions

When contacted about specific examples of hate speech, UpScrolled acknowledged the situation in writing. The company stated it was "actively reviewing and removing inappropriate content" and working to expand moderation capacity. Officials advised users to avoid engaging with bad-faith actors while improvements rolled out.

Yet observable outcomes lagged behind these assurances. Documented accounts featuring racial slurs in usernames remained accessible days after being flagged with evidence. No public dashboard or transparency report quantified removal rates, appeal outcomes, or team expansion progress. Without measurable benchmarks, users had no way to verify whether promised improvements were materializing.

The company's communication strategy also raised concerns. Rather than issuing a proactive safety update to its entire user base—as responsible platforms often do during crisis periods—UpScrolled limited its messaging to reactive email replies. This approach left millions of users unaware of known risks or protective steps they might take.

What This Means for Users and Platform Safety

For everyday users, especially minors and marginalized communities, these moderation failures carry real-world consequences. Exposure to normalized hate speech correlates with increased anxiety, self-censorship, and platform abandonment among targeted groups. When slurs become commonplace in usernames and hashtags, the environment itself becomes hostile—regardless of whether direct harassment occurs.

Parents who migrated children's accounts from TikTok seeking a safer alternative now face difficult choices. Without clear safety controls like restricted mode or granular comment filtering, caregivers lack tools to curate age-appropriate experiences. The platform's rapid growth attracted diverse age groups, but its safety infrastructure didn't mature at the same pace.

Creators also face reputational risk. Algorithmic feeds might place brand-friendly content adjacent to extremist material, creating association by proximity. Without content boundary controls or feed customization options, creators cannot fully control how their work is contextualized within the platform ecosystem.

The Broader Challenge of Scaling Content Moderation

UpScrolled's situation reflects an industry-wide tension between growth velocity and safety infrastructure. Social platforms historically prioritize user acquisition and engagement metrics during hypergrowth phases. Trust and safety teams often receive resources only after crises materialize—a reactive rather than preventative approach.

Emerging platforms face particular pressure. Investors reward rapid scaling, creating misaligned incentives where moderation is treated as a cost center rather than core product functionality. Yet 2026's regulatory landscape increasingly penalizes this mindset. New frameworks emphasize "safety by design," requiring platforms to demonstrate moderation capacity before reaching certain user thresholds.

The technical challenge remains nontrivial. Effective moderation requires multilingual AI models trained on nuanced hate speech variants, human reviewers with cultural context, and feedback loops that continuously refine detection systems. Building this takes months—not days—even with substantial funding. Platforms that skip these foundations during growth spurts inevitably face correction periods involving user attrition and regulatory scrutiny.

Steps Users Can Take to Protect Themselves

While platform-level fixes roll out, users can adopt protective measures immediately. First, leverage available blocking tools aggressively. UpScrolled allows users to block accounts and mute keywords—though these features remain buried in settings menus. Proactively muting known slur variations reduces exposure even if the platform hasn't banned them outright.

Second, avoid engaging with harmful content. Algorithms often interpret comments—even critical ones—as engagement signals that boost visibility. Reporting followed by disengagement is more effective than public confrontation. Document violations with screenshots before reporting, as evidence accelerates human review when systems eventually catch up.

Third, curate your feed intentionally. Follow accounts aligned with your values and interact consistently with positive content. Algorithmic feeds respond to engagement patterns; sustained interaction with constructive creators gradually reshapes recommendation quality even on imperfect platforms.

Finally, maintain cross-platform presence. Relying exclusively on any single emerging network creates vulnerability during stability crises. Diversifying audience connections across established and emerging platforms provides resilience when moderation gaps emerge.

The Path Forward for Emerging Platforms

UpScrolled's experience offers a cautionary blueprint for future social networks. Sustainable growth requires parallel investment in three areas: proactive AI moderation trained on diverse hate speech datasets, transparent reporting workflows with user feedback loops, and public safety dashboards that build trust through visibility.

Platforms gaining users through competitor instability must recognize they're inheriting communities—not just metrics. Those communities carry expectations about baseline safety that can't be deferred until Series C funding closes. The most successful platforms of 2026 treat moderation not as overhead but as product excellence—a feature users rightly demand from day one.

For now, UpScrolled users deserve clarity on timelines for meaningful improvement. How many moderators have been added? What detection accuracy targets are being measured? When will transparency reports launch? Answering these questions publicly would signal genuine commitment beyond boilerplate assurances.

In an era where digital spaces shape real-world discourse, moderation isn't optional infrastructure—it's the foundation of community itself. Platforms that learn this lesson early build lasting trust. Those that learn it late often find their growth was merely borrowed time.