TikTok NO!

App must better control Holocaust-related posts

On the heels of welcome news that Facebook will soon ban content denying the Holocaust—and, indeed, direct users to credible information about the Shoah—a disturbing trend of Holocaust minimalization or outright denial has invaded another social media platform. TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media platform has 800 million users worldwide, including 100 million in the United States. Some 14% of TikTok users are ages 16-24, making this development all the more dangerous among an impressionable demographic.

“Spreading Hate on TikTok,” a study conducted by the University of Haifa and Israel’s Institute for Counter Terrorism, found between February and May of this year TikTok content included:

• 196 posts about far-right extremism

• One-fifth of the far-right posts promoting anti-Semitism and/or Holocaust denial

• 14 posts referencing Adolf Hitler’s speeches

• 11 posts invoking the Nazi “Sieg Heil” victory salute

• 17 videos calling for violence and featuring Nazi symbols such as swastikas and the sonnenrad, an Ancient European black sunwheel the Nazis misappropriated to idealize an “Aryan race”

• 26 accounts with “88” in the name; this number is a white supremacist code for “Heil Hitler”
  

IN OUR OWN RANKS

Last month, the United States Army suspended one of their own men while they investigate his TikTok videos “joking” about the Holocaust. Nathan Freihofer, a second lieutenant, has three million followers. When confronted with his behavior, he replied, “If you get offended, get the f--k out, because it’s a joke.”

We are not laughing.

THE RESPONSE FROM AUSCHWITZ

Younger TikTok users have taken to creating “victimization” videos labelled #holocaustchallenge. These unsettling posts include users dressed in striped concentration-camp uniforms, sporting Star of David armbands, and/or bearing fake bruises.

In response, officials at the Auschwitz Memorial, tweeted: “The ‘victims’ trend on TikTok can be hurtful and offensive. Some videos are dangerously close or already beyond the border of trivialization of history. But we should discuss this not to shame and attack young people whose motivation seems very diverse. It’s an educational challenge.”

JEWISH USERS DISTRESSED

Jewish teenage and college-age users report being abused on TikTok following posts referencing their Jewish identity—even videos as benign as showing a bat mitzvah dress or a freshly baked challah. These videos often spur nefarious users to respond with anti-Semitic content that frequently includes:

• Holocaust denial

• Minimalization of the suffering incurred during the Holocaust

• Shower and gas pump emojis

• The word “Heil” next to a saluting emoji

In a statement, TikTok responded: “TikTok stands firmly against anti-Semitism and doesn’t tolerate hate in any form. We take strong action against hate groups and ideologies by banning accounts and removing content, including those which deny the Holocaust or other violent tragedies.”

IS TIKTOK DOING ENOUGH?

What is TikTok’s responsibility in combatting hateful posts, specifically those denying the Holocaust and glorifying Nazis? We want to hear your thoughts.