Internal Memo Exposes TikTok for Bias Against Israel and Support for Hamas' Narrative

AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File

It seems that TikTok has taken sides in the Israel-Hamas War, if a recent report is to be believed. The Chinese-owned video-sharing site is becoming the subject of yet another controversy after it was revealed that it refused to allow Israeli content on its platform.

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Weeks after the war began on October 7 when Hamas murdered and kidnapped Israeli civilians, an Israeli group sought to post content about the victims on TikTok but was rebuffed.

With assistance from marketing and advertising professionals, the newly created Hostages and Missing Persons Forum in Israel turned to powerful social media platforms used by billions of people worldwide and asked to place paid advertisements to raise awareness of their plight.

Mostly short video clips depicting the lives of ordinary civilians and children held captive by a U.S.-designated terror organization, multiple ads were placed on Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram, but the Chinese-owned video-sharing app, TikTok, refused to accept any of them, deeming them "too political."

The company has previously come under fire for allowing the proliferation of antisemitic content and videos supporting Hamas and the Palestinians in Gaza. In fact, one of TikTok’s employees called it out in a memo sent within the company.

An internal memo, written by a senior TikTok employee in the Israel office and seen by Fox News Digital, highlighted in detail an unequal policy toward the paid humanitarian campaigns pitched by Israeli families as compared to pro-Palestinian groups, as well as a flippant, even biased, approach to organic content uploaded by users to the site that is graphically violent and deeply inciting – violating some of the company’s own community guidelines.

A spokesperson for TikTok responded by saying, "These allegations are false and do not reflect TikTok policies in any way."

"We are clear in our advertising policies what content is allowed to be advertised and apply those policies equally to all ads on TikTok," the spokesperson said, adding, "We invest heavily in training our moderators to apply these policies consistently."

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However, the memo pointed out that “there are many employees within the company – primarily those working as moderators within the Trust ad Safety United – who have openly expressed ‘support for terrorism or endorsed extremist movements’ that work against Israel” according to the report.

In 2021, TikTok’s issue with antisemitism was highlighted in a report showing that videos featuring antisemitic sentiments had drastically increased on the platform.

Tiktok’s short, addictive videos and intelligent algorithm made for a great amusement during quarantine, and downloads of the app shot up. It went from being an app largely for teens and tweens to being one used by people of all ages around the world.

But the shocking 912% increase in antisemitism that headlines the University of Haifa study is only referring to comments; the increase in antisemitic videos was only 41%. In its sample, antisemitic comments rose from 41 to 415, and videos from 43 to 61. Meanwhile, the study notes antisemitic usernames grew by 1,375%, but the numbers used are quite small, showing a growth from just four to 59; TikTok’s overall users likely number in the billions, given that it has now been downloaded 3 billion times.

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If the memo is any indication, the spread of antisemitic content on TikTok is no mistake or oversight. Just as X was before Elon Musk took over, TikTok’s censorship brigade is clearly skewing its moderation practices to assist Israel’s enemies.

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