The army of pro-Israel TikTokers taking up arms against anti-Semitism: How social media influencers, including an IDF reservist, are helping fight Israel’s information war
As the battle against Hamas terrorists rages in Gaza, a small army of pro-Israel TikTokers is taking on the fight against online anti-Semitism.
In the case of Adiel Cohen, 25, he does both. An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reservist, he is currently serving with an artillery unit on one of Israel’s borders, and posts messages to his 40,000 followers on TikTok whenever he can.
Shortly after the 3,000 Hamas assassins descended on Israel, killing 1,400 people and taking at least 241 hostage, the information war against the Jewish state began in earnest on TikTok on October 7.
Last week, a group of high-profile TikTok creators demanded that the platform, founded in 2016, do something to stop the perpetuation of anti-Semitism.
“Simply put, TikTok lacks critical safeguards to protect Jewish content creators and the broader Jewish TikTok community, leaving us in digital and physical danger,” they said, including creators Amy Schumer, Isaac Mizrahi and Debra Messing.
According to a recent HArvard CAPS Harris Poll51 percent of young adults can “justify” Hamas massacres, in part because their main exposure to Israel since October 7 has come from TikTok videos.
Adiel Cohen, 25, is an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reservist and posts to his 40,000 followers on TikTok whenever he can
Brazilian-born Fernanda Jampolsky, 24, says she feels like a refugee in her own country
Adiel, whose parents came to Israel from Yemen, told the Times of Israel: ‘The amount of gaslighting is really something I have never experienced before’
Adiel, whose parents came to Israel from Yemen, told the Times of Israel, “The amount of gaslighting is really something I’ve never experienced,” referring to TikTok creators whose videos have glorified Hamas and demonized Israel after the invasion of ” Black Saturday’. .
News site Axios reported this week that since October 16, there have been 210,000 posts using the hashtag #StandwithPalestine, but only 17,000 around the world using the hashtag #StandwithIsrael.
“Now we are seeing levels of anti-Semitism and violence that we have never seen before,” Cohen said, referring to TikTok videos celebrating the massacres using graphic images captured by Hamas terrorists on their phones.
On Friday, TikTok responded to global criticism by reporting that 925,000 anti-Semitic videos have been removed by the platform since October 7.
Brazilian-born Fernanda Jampolsky, 24, says she feels like a refugee in her own country.
Immediately after October 7, she said, “everything changed online.”
Jampolsky is one of hundreds of Israeli activists affiliated with the advocacy groups Israel-Is and TalkIsrael. Two months ago, the groups trained a group of social media activists, including Jampolsky, to “change the narrative about Israel on TikTok,” she said.
The central problem facing Israeli activists on TikTok is the “completely personalized nature of the algorithm,” Jampolsky said. “It’s kind of crazy,” she added.
Shortly after the 3,000 Hamas assassins descended on Israel, killing 1,400 people and taking at least 241 hostage, the information war against the Jewish state began in earnest on TikTok on October 7.
Adiel Cohen has been trying to introduce younger viewers to TikTok
Jampolsky was referring to TikTok’s ability to “feed” specific videos to people based on what they’ve already watched or interacted with on the platform, which is valued at $5 billion.
“For Gen Z, the Gaza videos they see on TikTok are their first exposure to Israel,” she said. “They get a completely distorted view of what the country stands for,” she added.
Tellingly, most Arab creators in her network “had no qualms about condemning Hamas’ massacres,” she said. “It was very easy for them to condemn Hamas because they know what Hamas means.”
But both Jampolsky and Cohen pointed to “misinformation” as the biggest problem associated with TikTok’s algorithm, which not only “hyperpersonalizes” each creator’s content but simultaneously blocks opposing viewpoints.
“I felt like I was inundated for the last month by all these creators who hate Israel,” Jampolsky said.