A theory on social media is claiming that Israel is behind America's TikTok ban.
Newsweek has contacted TikTok via online contact form, and the Israeli government via email, for comment.
What is The Israel TikTok Ban Theory?
Multiple people on social media, including conservative media personality Candace Owens, have claimed that Israeli lobbying groups have pushed the U.S. to ban TikTok because of the high number of pro-Palestine content being created and shared on the app.
Owens has repeated the theory several times, saying during her show last Tuesday that the ban "comes down to them (TikTokers) being anti-Israel."
She said it again the next day: "Israeli officials were bragging about their ability to control speech—both on college campuses, getting various groups shut down that are pro-Palestinian and also on social media."
Owens then showed a clip of Amichai Chikli, an Israeli politician who serves as the Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, speaking to The Jerusalem Post about the need to reduce the amount of what he called antisemitism on TikTok.
He said: "We work regularly with the leadership of various social organizations—we had a lot of correspondence, especially with TikTok because TikTok was very, very problematic, especially at the beginning of the war. They have taken a lot of steps to try and prevent antisemitism to go widely on the platform. It is better now than it was 10 months ago, but still there is a lot of work to do—especially on X."
Chikli went on to cite Owens as one of the reasons for the "recent trends of antisemitism in North America."
Several other sharers of the theory, including independent journalist James Li, have referenced comments made by the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt.
In an interview with MSNBC, he said: "We need to talk about TikTok. TikTok, if you will, is the 24-7 news channel of so many of our young people and it's like Al Jazeera on steroids."
In a video made by Li, it's alleged Greenblatt can be heard speaking in a leaked recording. "We have a major, major, major generational problem. The issue in the United States' support for Israel is not left and right—it is young and old. And so we really have a TikTok problem, a Gen-Z problem."
Newsweek has contacted the ADL, via email, for comment on behalf of Greenblatt on Monday.
Li also showed a clip of former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley saying during the party's primary debate: "We do need to ban TikTok once and for all and let me tell you why—for every 30 minutes that someone watches TikTok every day, they become 17 percent more antisemitic."
She was citing a survey that statistician Anthony Goldbloom had posted about in November, which also found that "for every view of a TikTok video with a pro-Israel hashtag in the U.S., there are 54 views of videos with pro-Palestinian hashtags."
Is There Any Evidence To Support These Claims?
There is no official evidence confirming that Israel is behind TikTok's ban, but it is certainly clear that Israeli groups have expressed concern about antisemitism and pro-Palestinian sentiments on TikTok.
In December 2023, the U.S. media reported that a group of 40 mostly Jewish tech leaders and business executives confronted TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew over their worries about "antisemitism."
Fortune quoted Goldbloom, who said: "For every view of pro-Israel posts, there are about 54 views of pro-Palestine posts. If TikTok was just a mirror reflecting back what people believe, it shouldn't be a 54:1 ratio."
A TikTok spokesperson told Bloomberg at the time: "This is an extremely difficult time for millions of people around the world and in our TikTok community. We feel it's important to meet with and listen to creators, human rights experts, civil society and other stakeholders to help guide our ongoing work to keep our global community safe."
What Have Trump, Biden and U.S. Officials Said About Why TikTok Is Banned?
The reason for the ban cited by U.S. officials is the link between TikTok and adversary China. Given China's lack of data protection laws, America is worried about China having access to Americans' data.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri previously said: "If you have TikTok on your phone currently, it can track your whereabouts, it can read your text messages, it can track your keystrokes. It has access to your phone records. If the Chinese government gets its hands on that information, it's not just a national security threat, it's a personal security threat."
A law signed by President Joe Biden last year required TikTok's parent company, Beijing-based ByteDance, to either divest ownership outside China or cease operations. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the law following a challenge from TikTok.
President-elect Donald Trump has indicated that he will issue a 90-day extension for TikTok to comply with the law. The law allows such an extension if progress is being made toward securing a U.S. buyer or addressing national security risks.
TikTok Ban: What Is the Latest?
TikTok is used by millions of Americans, many of whom are wondering what will happen to their access to the popular app. If Meta were to acquire TikTok, it could strengthen the FTC's ongoing lawsuit alleging Meta's monopoly in the social media market.
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