Posted on 03/19/24
| News Source: Washington Free Beacon
Online activists across X, Reddit, and other popular internet forums are spreading anti-Semitic conspiracy theories claiming that prominent Jewish-American leaders oppose TikTok because it has emerged as a central repository for anti-Israel criticism related to the war against Hamas.
One X account with nearly a million followers pinned blame for the ban on Jonathan Greenblatt, the Jewish leader of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a watchdog group that has raised concerns about the prevalence of anti-Semitism on TikTok. The claims parrot classic examples of anti-Semitism alleging that Jews control politics and use this power to silence criticism of Israel. The emergence of this argument is raising concerns on Capitol Hill amid a massive rise in Jew-hatred across America in the wake of Hamas's Oct. 7 terror strikes on Israel.
"Seeing Gen Z in the US overwhelmingly support Palestine in the face of Israeli aggression, TERRIFIED [Greenblatt]," wrote X user "Censored Men" in a March 13 missive to more than 983,000 followers. "Is it such a coincidence that today the 'TikTok Ban Bill' passes after MONTHS of congress pushing for it so heavily?"
"With the speed they moved to ban TikTok, there is 0 doubt in my mind pro-Israel lobbying groups are behind the pressure," wrote another X user, "Lolo," to more than 155,000 followers. "Israel has been getting absolutely cooked on TikTok the last few months and it doesn't help that their own bozo soldiers are posting videos of them doing war crimes once a week."
This type of rhetoric has flourished on X, as well as other internet forums, since the House passed its version of the TikTok ban last week. The legislation is now in the Senate. Its chief Republican backer, Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.), says the rhetoric is evidence that the Chinese Communist Party is using TikTok to foment unrest in American and promote inflammatory propaganda.
"Unfortunately, there are anti-Semitic people in America who will blame Israel and the Jewish people for anything and everything," Rubio told the Washington Free Beacon. "These are the same people marching through cities in support of Hamas and Houthi terrorists. It is sick and evil."
"I understand why they love TikTok," Rubio said. "The Chinese-controlled app amplifies their views because Beijing wants to divide and weaken America from within. We can debate Middle East policy, but we shouldn't give the Chinese Communist Party—a group actively committing genocide against Muslims—the ability to control that debate."