TikTok executives met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog amid concerns over the rise of antisemitism on the platform since the Israel-Hamas War began on October 7th. The executives were shown evidence of rampant antisemitism, and TikTok Inc. has been accused of not adequately clamping down on antisemitic and pro-Hamas content. TikTok representatives informed President Herzog that over 160 million fake accounts, some spreading anti-Jewish and anti-Israel rhetoric, had been removed since the war's onset. Additionally, there have been at least 33 instances since 2020 where entities targeted by Libs of TikTok reported bomb threats or violent intimidation across 16 states. Amidst these issues, U.S. lawmakers are urging the Commerce Department to place TikTok's parent company ByteDance on an export control list to restrict its access and are pushing for TikTok to register as a foreign agent due to its Beijing-based ownership. TikTok has also removed the view count feature for hashtags, which researchers had used to show disparities in views of pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian videos, a move criticized as a step back for transparency. The platform is also under scrutiny for calls to suspend 'Libs of TikTok' and @ChayaRaichik10 for sharing videos deemed dangerous and violent, while accusations of censorship on discussions about Gaza and shadowbanning pro-Palestine posts have emerged. The situation unfolds within the wider context of U.S.-China intelligence wars, with a bipartisan effort led by @DanCrenshawTX and @RepJoshG to ban TikTok.
NEW: Meta is considering stricter censorship of the word "Zionist," a move that could hamper the ability of billions of people to criticize Israel and the ongoing war in Gaza https://t.co/Mim36z7ZwU
In a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, @RepDanCrenshaw and @RepJoshG call on the department to add ByteDance — TikTok’s parent company — to its foreign entity list. | @NRO https://t.co/U0EjUfJFnj
"The fundamental issue here is that Bytedance is a Beijing based company. The sanctioning of Huawei and focus on banning TikTok is part of the U.S. digital containment strategy of China." Amanda Yee @catcontentonly, editor at Liberation News shares analysis on the recent… https://t.co/OHWWQ1xskI
House Oversight Chair James Comer is ratcheting up pressure on the Biden administration to force TikTok to register as a foreign agent https://t.co/KWE5NGtwR7
US lawmakers urge Commerce to put TikTok-parent ByteDance on export control list https://t.co/m0xoQWFa4z https://t.co/4cKG8BvkPs
tiktok is getting rid of the ability to see how many times videos with a certain hashtag has been viewed this is an extremely shitty move that caters to bad-faith interpretations about why there's so much pro-palestine sentiment on TikTok https://t.co/RtwqXhDXTN
🚨🚨 A bipartisan group of lawmakers led by @DanCrenshawTX and @RepJoshG on the House Select Committee on Intelligence are leading a new effort to BAN TIKTOK. 🚨🚨 Cynics said it would never get done. They said Congress would be too afraid to take the political risk and do the…
⚠️ LAWMAKERS URGE COMMERCE TO PUT TIKTOK-PARENT BYTEDANCE ON EXPORT CONTROL LIST (Reuters) A bipartisan group of 15 U.S. lawmakers on Thursday urged the Commerce Department to add TikTok-parent company ByteDance to a government export control list to restrict its access to… https://t.co/LJhAe0AYwf
Reddit accuses @ChayaRaichik10 of being a terrorist. https://t.co/O7wpiuNihL
TikTok removes feature that critics used to study Israel-Gaza war videos. The change came after researchers used the video view counts to suggest the app favored one side over the other in the war. One group called the move “a step back for transparency.” https://t.co/5N2n71jcJo
In China, TikTok is promoting educational videos to children, and there is even a limit to the amount of time they can spend on the app. In the US, TikTok is promoting harmful videos and anti-Israel propaganda. Why is there such a dramatic difference? https://t.co/1oPVDWpOJF
TikTok quietly removed view counts for hashtags in January, after researchers used them to show the disparity in views of pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian videos (@drewharwell / Washington Post) https://t.co/bzBbPASk8j 📫 Subscribe: https://t.co/OyWeKSRpIM https://t.co/6oiJ8CpYSv
Are social media algorithms being used to shadowban posts in support of Palestine? Find out why tech giants are being accused of robbing the Palestinians of their voice. https://t.co/sZJ8o6kg0V
They also met with TikTok Executives to censor creators talking about Gaza *even more* than they already are. https://t.co/K6N1bEVonT
"Libs of TikTok's Chaya Raichik is responsible for b*mb threats to schools and hospitals!" starter pack https://t.co/jkBRkxgFWq
But what is the threat of TikTok, really? And how does it fit within wider U.S.-China intelligence wars? Watch the full #threatstatus interview with Guy Taylor and @FDD's @CraigMSingleton: https://t.co/POAFq6vWxZ https://t.co/Mnfz0IFKnl
BREAKING: TikTok calls on X to suspend @ChayaRaichik10 / @libsoftiktok because the TikTok videos she shares are dangerous and violent.
How many of the fake TikTok accounts are operated by the CCP’s 50 Cent Army trolls? https://t.co/4KHgjRfdV8
How many of the fake TikTok accounts are operated by the CCP’s 50 Cent Party? https://t.co/4KHgjRfdV8
How many of the fake TikTok accounts are operated by the CCP’s propaganda 50 cent army? https://t.co/4KHgjRfdV8
Ban TikTok Read these words slowly👇 "The TikTok reps told the president that more than 160 million “fake accounts” had been identified and removed since October 7, including ones spreading anti-Jewish and anti-Israel rhetoric" 160 MILLION fake accounts https://t.co/wFyzctWrKM
#TikTok Inc. executives visit #Israel and meet with its president to address accusations that the social media giant was failing to clamp down on antisemitic and pro-Hamas content on its platform. https://t.co/eTjAWa20Pq
NEW: There have been at least 33 instances since 2020 when people or institutions singled out by Libs of TikTok later reported bomb threats or violent intimidation. The threats targeted schools, hospitals, businesses and officials across 16 states. https://t.co/T1evKNMj4D
Top Tiktok executives shown evidence of rampant antisemitism on the platform https://t.co/sW6w1jwPM3
The meeting between Tiktok executives and Israeli President @Isaac_Herzog came amid the rise of antisemitism on TikTok since the onset of the Israel-Hamas War on October 7th. https://t.co/bwR7Cthv9D