More than twelve years after the death of Osama bin Laden, the video platform TikTok has to fight against videos of a notorious pamphlet from the terrorist leader – which some users are currently enthusiastic about. The videos would be removed “proactively and aggressively,” TikTok said Thursday.
Shortly before, the British newspaper ‘Guardian’ had removed the translation of the text from its website. The reason given was that the text was often shared on social media without the original context.
In 2002, the Guardian reported on the Letter to the American People, written in Arabic by the former head of the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda, and published it in its entirety in an English translation.
Distorted facts and criticism
In the text, the planner of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks explained his worldview, which was characterized by Islamic fundamentalism and anti-Semitism, and threatened further acts of violence. Quotes from it and references to the text in the ‘Guardian’ with reference to the Gaza war were distributed on TikTok and were often positively assessed.
TikTok also blocked the hashtag ‘#lettertoamerica’ from the platform’s search function. The spread of the videos and the messages about them immediately led to new criticism of the service, which is accused in the US of being close to Chinese authorities – which TikTok rejects. Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley wrote on the online platform X (formerly Twitter) that this was an example of “how our foreign enemies are poisoning social media.”
Millions reach out for terrorist propaganda
TikTok countered that there were only “a small number” of videos – and that they clearly violated the platform’s rules. According to an analysis, the videos published since the beginning of the week initially received around two million views, which is not a lot for a platform with around 150 million users in the US alone. Then a compilation at X drew new attention to it. By Thursday afternoon, videos with the corresponding hashtag had already been viewed more than 15 million times.
Bin Laden was killed by US special forces in Pakistan in May 2011. A propaganda and disinformation expert at Stanford University criticized the Guardian’s decision as a mistake. Renee DiResta argued on the online service Threads that a terrorist’s long-known fantasies should not be made forbidden knowledge just because some people spread them on TikTok.
Multiplied removal range?
This could make it more exciting for some to rediscover them. Instead, have people read “the killer’s demands” and add more context.
“The transcript posted on our website was shared widely on social media without full context. “We have therefore decided to remove it and instead refer readers to the report which puts it in context,” the Guardian website said on Wednesday.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
