TikTok is allegedly putting its thumb on the scale to help far-left New York state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani win the New York City mayoralty, according to a new report.
The Chinese-owned app’s algorithm is “distorting the playing field in New York City’s mayoral race” by “amplifying” pro-Mamdani content while “suppressing” videos backing his opponent, Andrew Cuomo, according to a Tel Aviv-based tech insider who cited a key leaked document from the social media company.
“Early evidence points to algorithmic influence that may be shaping voter perception in the New York elections,” Yehonatan Dodeles wrote in a Medium post published Tuesday.
He noted that TikTok’s algorithm doesn’t just determine which videos go viral — it’s “shaping what millions of people understand to be true about the world.”
Dodeles and his team focused on a leaked onboarding document that TikTok provides to newly hired software engineers.
The researchers used it to build a computer model to figure out which TikTok videos were getting more attention than they would based on users’ usual engagement levels.
By analyzing millions of videos, they set a “normal” rate for how often posts are typically displayed on users’ feeds, then looked for topics that got extra, unexplained promotion.
Political videos — especially those supporting Mamdani — were shared far more often than expected, while pro-Cuomo videos appeared less often, Dodeles found.
That discrepancy suggests TikTok’s algorithm may be quietly pushing one side’s content more than the other, rather than simply showing users what becomes popular on its own, Dodeles wrote.
The Post has reached out to TikTok for comment.
This isn’t the first time the platform has been accused of political bias.
In 2023, several conservative TikTok creators told Fox News Digital their videos were repeatedly taken down after coordinated mass reporting campaigns, forcing them to start new accounts multiple times.
TikTok denied singling out right-leaning users, saying its moderation policies are applied evenly and without political bias.
But creators insist there’s a double standard. They claimed that posts criticizing progressive views on gender, race or religion are quickly removed while left-leaning attacks on conservatives stay up.
The platform is also facing accusations of favoring pro-Palestinian content and suppressing pro-Israel voices since the 2023 start of the Israel-Hamas war.
Studies have found as many as 17 pro-Palestinian videos for every one pro-Israel post, with Israeli officials alleging TikTok routinely restricts or deletes their content.
TikTok argued that its moderation targets policy violations, not politics, though critics say its algorithm amplifies only one side of the debate.
The Trump administration is forcing TikTok’s Chinese-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app’s US operations to a consortium that includes Oracle and Silver Lake, but the app’s powerful recommendation algorithm remains a subject of controversy.
Because Beijing classifies the algorithm as a “controlled export technology,” ByteDance will reportedly license — not sell — the tech to the US consortium, allowing Oracle to modify a local version of it.
Lawmakers warn the compromise could let China retain indirect influence over how TikTok’s feed shapes what some 170 million American users see online.
Meanwhile, the latest poll from Gotham Polling and the city AARP shows Mamdani leading New York City’s mayoral race, with the Dem taking 43.2% of the vote compared to 28.9% for Cuomo and 19.4% for Republican Curtis Sliwa.
The Post has reached out to Mamdani and Cuomo for comment.
