‘Internal memo’ from senior TikTok employee airs allegations of bias in handling of Israeli and Palestinian humanitarian advertisements

A senior TikTok employee has reportedly accused the company of bias in its handling of Israeli and Palestinian humanitarian ads.

An internal memo, not seen by MailOnline, was sent by an employee of the Israel office, pointing out an uneven policy on the paid videos from both sides, according to Fox news.

It was reportedly sent to TikTok's senior management, claiming that many employees, who work as moderators within the Trust and Safety Unit, have openly expressed their “support for terrorism or supported extremist movements” against Israel.

The employee also added that the company's handling of the ongoing conflict has created a toxic environment for Jewish and Israeli employees.

TikTok has denied these allegations, saying they “do not reflect TikTok policies in any way.”

According to Fox News, an internal memo was sent by an employee of the Israeli office pointing out an uneven policy regarding the paid videos from both sides of the conflict. Pictured: Injured mother and children taken to a hospital in Gaza after an Israeli airstrike

It was sent to TikTok's senior management and alleged that many employees, who work as moderators within the Trust and Safety Unit, have openly expressed their “support for terrorism or supported extremist movements” against Israel. In the photo: posters of hostages kidnapped by Hamas

The internal memo, written by a senior employee, reportedly highlights a biased approach to organic content uploaded by users, which is explicitly violent and highly inflammatory and violates TikTok's community guidelines.

It was noted that there have been some efforts to remove anti-Semitic posts and videos containing misinformation about Israel.

But added that some employees have openly expressed support for terrorism or anti-Israel extremist movements.

“This most likely affects the amount of hostile propaganda against Israel and Jews and harmful disinformation on our platform, both in the US and Europe,” the employee said.

A TikTok spokesperson said: “These allegations are false and in no way reflect TikTok policies.

“We are clear in our advertising policy about what content can be advertised and apply that policy equally to all advertising on TikTok.

“We are investing heavily in training our moderators to apply this policy consistently.”

The social media giant has previously faced accusations that it has not done enough to stamp out anti-Semitism on its platform.

Israeli employees claimed in a memo that TikTok rejected an Israeli campaign to raise awareness for the 240 people held hostage by Hamas

They pointed out how TikTok has allowed humanitarian campaigns to raise funds for children in Gaza. In the photo: Palestinian children waiting to get water

Screenshots from TikTok's internal employee chat Lark revealed trust and security officials celebrating attacks by Hamas and other Iranian-backed terrorist organizations, according to Fox News.

TikTok revealed on December 7 that it was stepping up to invest in training for moderators with experts “to address implicit bias and the unique aspects of hateful ideologies.”

The company said: “We provide ongoing training to our content moderation teams to identify evolving hateful behavior, symbols, terms and offensive stereotypes.

“We also regularly engage with our community and experts to strengthen our approach against hate.”

But Israeli employees claimed in a memo that TikTok rejected an Israeli campaign to raise awareness for the 240 people held hostage by Hamas, while allowing humanitarian campaigns to raise money for children in Gaza.

“The labeling of kidnapped babies, women, children and elderly civilians taken from their beds by Hamas-ISIS as a 'political issue' is one-sided at best,” the memo said.

'In this way, American users are bombarded with paid advertisements that present the misery of children in Gaza (without of course the enormous humanitarian aid that enters Gaza and is stolen by Hamas, as indicated by the UN), some with a high budget (according to our own company's best advertising center), while advertisements showing the humanitarian tragedy of Israeli hostages cannot be presented to this audience.”

TikTok insisted that paid ads are accepted and rejected based on compliance with its advertising policies and community guidelines, and not based on political affiliations.

Yossi Lubaton, who is responsible for creating content at the Hostages and Missing Persons Forum in Israel, said TikTok was asked to post content calling for the release of hostages.

“We were told that under their policy we couldn't post paid campaigns because they were considered too political or explicit,” he said.

“They told us it was a strict policy that was applied on both the Israeli side and the other side, so we started putting the paid campaign on Facebook and Google.

“Our campaign is based on humanitarian policy, kidnapping children and civilians is a war crime and Hamas should release them.”

TikTok insisted that paid ads are accepted and rejected based on compliance with its advertising policies and community guidelines, and not based on any political favor.

It added that political advertising “including the use of campaign slogans” is not allowed and that it bans ads containing “images of war, weapons, hostages and violence.”

But TikTok does allow humanitarian advertising campaigns from nonprofits, including some from Israeli NGOs.

DailyMail.com has contacted TikTok for comment.