01/26/2026
For the first time ever, one of my videos on TikTok received zero views this past weekend. This happened shortly after I declined a new agreement from Oracle the company Larry Ellison founded, which now plays a key role in TikTok’s U.S. operations. Whether related or not, it marked a notable and unprecedented drop in visibility.
This isn’t the first time I’ve encountered platform suppression.
In 2020, Meta permanently shut down my Instagram account, which had several thousand followers. Since then, I’ve been unable to grow past 300 followers on any new account - no matter the content or consistency.
Facebook, too, deprioritizes posts with external links. The algorithm heavily penalizes anything that leads users off-platform, as their goal is to keep attention locked in for ad revenue. Visibility for Substack links, YouTube videos, or personal websites is minimal unless you pay to boost.
YouTube banned my channel in 2020. Since then, I’ve noticed a strange but steady decline: they used to unsubscribe 60 accounts from my channel each month; that number is now about 40 but over time, this has resulted in a net loss of over 7,000 subscribers. No transparency, no recourse.
So far, Substack appears to be the exception. It remains a platform where reach is still possible, where content is delivered directly to readers without being filtered by opaque algorithms. Whether this continues remains to be seen but for now, it feels like one of the few spaces where honest, soul-aligned communication can still move freely. The link to follow me there is in the comment section below as the throttle posts with external links ~