TikTok has shaken up its US Content Advisory Council, adding new voices who support broad free-speech protections and have been critical of government pressure on online platforms.
The eight-person council, formed in 2020, brings in independent experts on technology and safety to advise on TikTok’s policies around child protection, hate speech, misinformation, and bullying.
The reshuffle added three new members, with two of them having libertarian or conservative backgrounds. The three members who left the council brought expertise in technology policy, tech ethics, and political communication.
The change appears to have occurred in the last two months. According to the Wayback Machine, an internet archive tool, a previous version of the page listing the former members was live as recently as March.
One of the new members is David Inserra, a fellow for free expression and technology at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank.
According to his bio, he researches issues like “online content policies and moderation, and the harmful impacts of censorship on individuals, companies, technology, and society.” In a 2024 Cato blog post he coauthored, Inserra argued that “the First Amendment does protect misinformation and hate speech.”
Inserra previously spent nearly eight years at the Heritage Foundation as a policy analyst focused on homeland security and cyber policy. In 2023 — after Inserra left — the Heritage Foundation published Project 2025, a 900-plus-page conservative policy agenda that includes proposals to eliminate the Department of Education and restrict federal efforts to combat misinformation. On LinkedIn, he describes himself as an “Advocate for free expression online.”
Corbin Barthold, internet policy counsel and director of appellate litigation at TechFreedom, also joined the council. TechFreedom is a libertarian-leaning think tank focused on tech policy.
Barthold has been critical of the Trump administration’s policies and outspoken against efforts to ban TikTok, especially the national security rationale behind it. In a January post on X, he wrote: “‘National security’ in this context is code for ‘afraid of speech.'”
The third new member is Desmond Upton Patton, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and founding director of the research initiative SAFElab. His work focuses on how social media affects mental health, trauma, grief, and violence, particularly for youth and adults of color.
TikTok, Barthold, and Patton did not respond to BI requests for comment. Inserra was not immediately available for comment.
On its website, TikTok says the council “represents a diverse array of backgrounds and perspectives” and includes experts in youth safety, free expression, hate speech, and other safety issues.
The company adds that the council helps inform its policies, product features, and safety processes, stating: “We work to ensure our policies and processes are informed by a diversity of perspectives, expertise, and lived experiences.”
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It’s not just TikTok
The TikTok council reshuffle follows recent moves by other social platforms to reframe their approaches to free speech and content moderation, especially under increased political scrutiny.
In January, Meta replaced its US third-party fact-checking program with a community-notes system modeled after the one used by Elon Musk’s X — a shift many observers saw as a political repositioning.
That same month, Meta appointed UFC CEO and longtime Donald Trump ally Dana White to its board of directors.
Like Meta and X, TikTok is testing more transparent alternatives to content takedowns. In April, TikTok began piloting “Footnotes”, a tool that lets eligible users add clarifying context beneath videos without removing them.
The feature is being trialled in the US and will work alongside TikTok’s existing partnerships with its existing fact-checking network.
TikTok’s future in the US has remained uncertain since April 2024, when Congress passed a law requiring ByteDance to divest its US operations or face a nationwide ban.
Trump, who once pushed to ban TikTok, told NBC’s Meet the Press earlier this month that he has a “warm spot in his heart” for the app, and suggested he might grant another extension if the company fails to find a buyer before the revised June 19 deadline.
