Jewish celebrities, including Amy Schumer, Sacha Baron Cohen and Debra Messing, engaged with TikTok executives in a heated 90-minute video call on Wednesday about the app’s inability to stop rampant anti-Semitism.
One of the stars’ complaints was TikTok’s indifference to the pro-Palestinian phrase “From the River to the Sea,” which they say equates to the eradication of Israel.
They also took issue with a recent viral video of a teenager reading Osama Bin Laden’s 2002 “Letter to America.”
The letter spread via TikTok in recent weeks as the conflict between Israel and Palestine continued. The trend is for Gen Z users, most of whom were not born on September 11, to sympathize with bin Laden and agree with his pro-Palestinian comments.
TikTok has already promised to “aggressively” remove all videos containing the letter and investigate how they came online in the first place.
Jewish stars, including Amy Schumer and Sacha Baron Cohen, took part in a conversation with TikTok executives on Wednesday. The purpose of the call was to discuss ways the app can reduce anti-Semitism, but executives were criticized for failing to do so so far.
Actress Debra Messing has slammed TikTok for allowing the phrase ‘From the river to the sea’
“We recognize that this is an incredibly difficult and frightening time for millions of people around the world and in our TikTok community.
“Our leadership met with creators, civil society, human rights experts and stakeholders to hear their experiences and feedback on how TikTok can continue to be a place for community, discovery and authentic sharing,” a company spokesperson said.
During the call, Baron Cohen accused the app TikTok of hosting what he called “the largest anti-Semitic movement since the Nazis.”
‘You should be ashamed!’ he scolded executives and told them to “flip the switch” to stop growing anti-Semitism.
The conversation was with Adam Presser, TikTok’s chief operations officer, and Seth Melnick, global head of user operations, according to The New York Times.
They explained that while their moderators do their best to prevent hate speech, there is no “magic button” to completely clear it or prevent it from appearing.
Messing begged executives to ban the phrase “From the River to the Sea,” but they refused, telling her and everyone else on the call that the site would be allowed in moderation and would only be offensive if used in a violent manner .
‘If it is exactly clear what they mean – ‘kill the Jews, eradicate the state of Israel’ – the content is offensive and we will remove it.
A worrying new trend is young TikTok users sympathizing with Osama Bin Laden’s letter to America in light of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine.
In the ‘Letter to America’, Osama bin Laden accused the US of being complicit in the ‘oppression’ of the Palestinians and of spreading AIDS around the world
At Bin Laden’s direction, nearly 3,000 Americans were killed in New York City, Washington DC and Pennsylvania on 9/11
“Our approach until October 7, and continuing to this day, was that if people use the phrase where it is not clear, or if someone just uses it in passing, that is considered acceptable language,” said Presser, who also Jewish, said.
Messing asked them to think about it again.
“It’s much more responsible to block it at this point than to say, ‘Oh yeah, some people are using it in a way other than what it’s actually intended for.’
“I understand that you are in a very, very difficult and complicated situation, but you are also the main platform for the spread of hatred of Jews,” she said, according to the Times report.
All three have been outspoken supporters of Israel since the Hamas attack on October 7. There were about thirty people present.
The “Letter to Bin Laden” trend has been rejected by Americans, including Megyn Kelly, who labeled the young people who shared the trend as “Gen Z losers.”
TikTok insisted it was “aggressively” removing any videos containing the malicious letter.
Relatives of victims attend a ceremony observing the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon