TikTok is taking action against content promoting the manifesto Osama bin Laden wrote discussing his alleged motivations for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In a statement in X (formerly Twitter)TikTok says it is “proactively and aggressively removing this content and investigating how it came to our platform.”
In recent days, dozens of videos about the manifesto, titled “Letter to America,” have appeared on TikTok. tech/tiktok-osama-bin-laden-letter-to-america/index.html”>with CNN reporting The topic racked up “at least” 14 million views on Thursday. Originally published in 2002, the manifesto criticizes the US government’s presence in the Middle East and support for Israel. However, some creators are now trying to apply that criticism to the US government’s response to the current war between Israel and Hamas.
One video, which has since been removed from TikTok, had overlaid text that read “trying to get back to normal life after reading Osama Bin Laden’s ‘Letter to America’ and realizing everything we learned about the Middle East.” , 9/11 and ‘Terrorism’ was a lie.”
TikTok no longer shows any results when you try to search for “Letter to America” and the guardianwho published a translated version of the letter in 2002, he lowered it Wednesday after it began circulating on the platform. When it was first publishedhe guardian He said the letter circulated among “British Islamic extremists.”
“The content promoted by this letter clearly violates our rules on supporting any form of terrorism,” TikTok writes in X. “This is not unique to TikTok and has appeared on multiple platforms and media.” TikTok adds that the number of videos posted on the topic is “small and reporting on trends on our platform is inaccurate.”
Earlier this week, TikTok rejected claims that it was lenient on pro-Palestinian content. claiming both Instagram and Facebook also had more posts tagged with #FreePalestine than #standwithIsrael. The platform says it also does not allow “inaccurate, misleading or false content that could cause significant harm to individuals or society, regardless of its intent.”
The war between Israel and Hamas has been a big test for TikTok, and the platform will only continue to face pressure to strictly moderate its content, especially as nearly a third of young adults use TikTok for news.
