(Photo By: Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo)
By: Benjamin Kerstein - July 12, 2021
Anti-Semitic activity on the hugely popular social media app TikTok has skyrocketed over the past year, a new study by the University of Haifa revealed.
TikTok has 1.2 billion users and is used predominantly by young people, with over 41% of users between the ages of 16 and 21. At the same time, the enormous number of users and minimal content moderation has helped lead to a proliferation anti-Semitic, racist, extremist, and neo-Nazi activity.
The Haifa study found that problem is getting steadily worse, with a shocking 912% increase in anti-Semitic content over the past year.
This included a 41% increase in anti-Semitic posts and a 1375% increase in usernames with anti-Semitic connotations — such as @holocaustwasgood or @eviljews.
Anti-Semitic content found by the study included videos of users giving the Nazi salute; stereotypical images of Jews; Holocaust denial or minimization; and texts like “I have a solution, a final solution.”
Even when TikTok attempted to counter the trend, such as by posting an educational video on Holocaust Memorial Day, the content was immediately targeted by huge numbers of anti-Semitic comments.
The Haifa study called TikTok “an ideal virtual home for hate speech and extremist content” due to its professed desire to be “raw, real, and without boundaries.”
Read More: Algemeiner