Former NBA player-turned-human rights activist Enes Freedom said that TikTok is censoring information damaging to the Chinese state.

Freedom, who has played for several NBA teams including the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks, said he downloaded the Chinese-owned video-sharing app and posted about China’s human rights abuses.

“I bought myself a second phone and downloaded Tiktok to start posting about China’s human rights abuses,” Freedom tweeted on Thursday. Freedom said he was quickly booted from the platform. He believes China’s government was behind the decision.

“It literally took the CCP one week to ban me permanently,” he wrote, adding, “TikTok is a Chinese Communist surveillance vehicle!”

“Stop stealing people’s information!” Freedom added.

I bought myself a second phone and downloaded Tiktok to start posting about #China’s human rights abuses.

It literally took the #CCP one week to ban me permanently.

TikTok is a Chinese Communist surveillance vehicle! pic.twitter.com/Wsk7HJo6fy

— Enes FREEDOM (@EnesFreedom) March 23, 2023

Freedom shared what appear to be screenshots of his TikTok account after it was banned.

“Your account was permanently banned for violating our Community Guidelines. To appeal this decision, include a description of the issue below,” read TikTok’s message on Freedom’s account.

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TikTok appears to have reviewed and responded to Freedom’s appeal, according to another screenshot. TikTok’s message to Freedom says the account still violates TikTok’s guidelines and “cannot be restored.”

“You’ll no longer be able to log into TikTok with your account,” the message reads, according to a screenshot.

Freedom was born in Turkey and immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager. He became an American citizen in 2021 and legally changed his last name to Freedom in honor of the occasion.

In 2022, Freedom was cut by the Houston Rockets, effectively halting his NBA career. Freedom has said he believes he was cut due to his outspoken criticism of the Chinese Communist Party.

“Because in recent months, I spoke out against what is happening in China,” Freedom said at the time. “Listen, the Chinese market is a significant part of the business in the NBA. So they will allow you to talk freely about what you want until it hurts their pocket. As soon as you do that, they will cut you. It is very sad and unacceptable.”

TikTok is currently under scrutiny from lawmakers in Washington over national security concerns related to how the company handles Americans’ data. 

The Biden administration has threatened to ban TikTok in the U.S. unless TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, sells the U.S. version of the app.

On Thursday, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee and attempted to reassure lawmakers that there is no reason to ban TikTok. However, Chew did not answer directly when asked whether Chinese officials at ByteDance had helped him prepare for the congressional hearing.

Chew also said he opposes a forced sale of the U.S. TikTok app.

The tensions over TikTok have put the Chinese and U.S. governments at odds with each other. The Chinese government weighed in on Thursday, saying it will “firmly oppose” the sale of TikTok.

On Tuesday amid the scrutiny, TikTok updated its Community Guidelines to include new restrictions, around the topic of climate change and vaccines as well as restrictions on AI-generated images of young people and private figures.

The U.S. military launched airstrikes against Iranian-backed terrorists in Syria on Thursday night after a U.S. contractor was killed and five U.S. service members and an additional U.S. contractor were injured in an attack by a suicide drone.

U.S. intelligence said that the attack was carried out by a “one-way unmanned aerial vehicle” that “struck a maintenance facility on a Coalition base near Hasakah in northeast Syria at approximately 1:38 p.m. local time.”

The Pentagon said that the precision airstrikes were launched to “limit the risk of escalation and minimize casualties.”

“This evening, we responded to an attack on our forces that killed an American contractor and wounded our troops and another American contractor by striking facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps,” U.S. Central Command later added. “We will always take all necessary measures to defend our people and will always respond at a time and place of our choosing.”

“We are postured for scalable options in the face of any additional Iranian attacks,” the statement continued. “The thoughts and prayers of U.S. Central Command are with the Family of our contractor killed and with our wounded servicemembers and contractor.”

The statement said that U.S. forces remained stationed in Syria “to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS, which benefits the security and stability of not only Syria, but the entire region.”

Below is a statement from the CENTCOM Commander on the precision strikes in response to American casualties in Syria. pic.twitter.com/MIJeQh1VtD

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 24, 2023

The incident in Syria comes as U.S. and foreign officials have grown increasingly concerned over the state of Iran’s nuclear program. General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told lawmakers during a Thursday hearing on Capitol Hill that Iran is “several more months” away from producing an “actual nuclear weapon.”

The scenario has alarmed Israeli officials who in recent months have been increasingly outspoken about the threat of a nuclear Iran and Israel’s determination to act and stop such an outcome. Israeli officials have reportedly warned officials in the U.S. and Europe that Israel will strike Iran if it enriches uranium past a 60% threshold. Uranium is weapons-grade after it is enriched up to 90%.

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At the same time, Iran has been bolstered by Russia and China. Russia is reportedly considering supplying Iran with S-400 missile systems, an anti-air missile system that Israel fears could protect Iran’s nuclear facilities from an airstrike. China has helped Iran build diplomatic ties in the region, serving as the middleman for a recent agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Tim Pearce contributed to this report.