A US House of Representatives invoice looking for to ban Chinese-owned TikTok has made headlines globally, and pro-Israel circles seem like welcoming the proposal, citing the “rise of antisemitic content” on the platform.
The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), an American Jewish umbrella group representing over 350 unbiased Jewish teams within the nation, praised the proposed ban in an official assertion printed on Wednesday.
“The single most important issue to our Jewish communities today is the dramatic rise in antisemitism,” the group mentioned, including that “TikTok is the worst offender by far” in antisemitism.
“TikTok has helped fuel a horrific spike in antisemitism that our communities are feeling every day, and it’s time to take action,” mentioned Eric Fingerhut, the group’s president and CEO.
On the House vote approving the measure-after which it nonetheless wants Senate approval and the president’s signature-he mentioned: “Today’s vote showed the strong, bipartisan support for ensuring that TikTok cannot continue to push hateful messages into our communities, and we urge the Senate to quickly take up and pass this legislation.”
The federations group seeks to power ByteDance, the proprietor of TikTok, to promote the US belongings of the app or face a complete ban within the nation. As TikTok has a staggering 170 million customers within the US, lots of whom use the app for a residing, lawmakers have been flooded with telephone calls from disgruntled customers.
It additionally mentioned that ByteDance “is beholden to the Chinese government, which has squarely positioned itself against Israel” since Oct. 7, when a shock Hamas incursion killed near 1,200 folks.
“China has filled its state-controlled media and social media channels with antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric,” the group additionally claimed.
According to Human Rights Watch, the corporate does certainly have ties to the Chinese authorities and the ruling Chinese Communist Party, inside the scope of a so-called “internal party committee” as a part of its governance construction.
The inner social gathering committee of ByteDance is headed by the corporate’s vp, Zhang Fuping, in accordance with Human Rights Watch.
– Questionable statistics
Without offering any particulars of its methodology or how it’s carried out, the Jewish Federations of North America additionally cited a research which allegedly confirmed that “those who use TikTok for over 30 minutes a day are 17 percent more like to be antisemitic or hold anti-Israel views, compared to six percent on Instagram and two percent on X.”
However, Anadolu discovered that the group most likely was citing a research that has additionally been misinterpreted by former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who not too long ago suspended her run for the US Republican Party presidential nomination.
The research printed by Anthony Goldbloom on GitHub, a preferred software program developer platform, really pointed to the discovering that spending half an hour a day utilizing the app was related to “a 17% increase in the likelihood they were to hold antisemitic or anti-Israel views compared to people who don’t use it at all,” in accordance with Steve Goldstein, the European Bureau chief of news web site MarketWatch.
“While much higher than the antisemitic views of Instagram or X users, the study does not suggest that continuing to use the Chinese-owned social media service will further bolster the user’s antisemitic views,” he added.
The Jewish group additionally mentioned antisemitic feedback on TikTok rose 912% over the course of a year-all however doubling.
“This national security bill offers our president the tools necessary to protect American citizens’ personal data from being used by foreign adversaries, particularly TikTok,” it added, urging the Senate to move the invoice and ship it to US President Joe Biden, who pledged to signal it if it arrives to his desk.
The group additionally claimed that the invoice is someway “not a ban” on TikTok, and it “does not restrict” Americans’ rights stemming from the First Amendment, which bars Congress from “abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble.”
“But the harm TikTok is doing cannot be ignored.”
– TikTok accused of antisemitism
Since the Israel-Palestine battle flared up on Oct. 7, different organizations, politicians, celebrities and TikTokers have been voicing their issues concerning the app, accusing it of permitting antisemitic content material.
In November, Jewish customers of the platform launched a web site known as “Dear TikTok,” which accommodates an open letter to the app’s administration.
“Dear TikTok, Your platform is not safe for Jewish users,” the letter says.
“Simply put, TikTok lacks critical safety features to protect Jewish content creators and the broader Jewish TikTok community, leaving us in digital and physical danger,” it provides, accusing the corporate of “not doing enough” to guard its Jewish customers.
“Your Jewish creators-who regularly enliven the For You page with videos of dancing, cooking, singing, and positivity of all kinds-are being bombarded with abhorrent inhumanity solely due to our ethno-religious identity. This hate and vitriol is not rare, spontaneous or unexpected. Sadly, rampant antisemitism is a common problem that TikTok has failed to address for far too long,” it mentioned, urging the platform to “not become a permanent cesspool of indiscriminate and aggressive antisemitism.”
TikTok has lengthy denied the antisemitism accusation.
“Hateful ideologies, like antisemitism, are not and have never been allowed on our platform,” TikTok mentioned in an announcement, later including that the #StandWithIsrael hashtag gained 46.3 million views on the platform since Oct. 7 within the US in contrast with 29.4 million for #StandWithPalestine.
Source: www.anews.com.tr