Tech Leaders Pressurizing TikTok CEO to Moderate Antisemitic Content

A group of 40 tech leaders met TikTok CEO Shou Chew and other senior executives to demand more action against antisemitic posts and asked why videos supporting Palestine were so widespread on the app.

The meeting, which took place a month ago, also involved TikTok’s operations chief Adam Presser and public policy chief Michael Beckerman, said Anthony Goldbloom, a partner at AIX Ventures and one of the tech participants. They brought data analysis of TikTok’s content and a letter endorsed by 90 experts, such as former Meta Platforms Inc. revenue boss David Fischer, Tinder’s co-creator Sean Rad and Bonobos Inc.’s founder Andy Dunn.

Goldbloom said they wanted TikTok to honor its promise to “prevent harm”. Many of the letter’s signers believed the app was breaking its own community rules as reports of abuse on the platform increased after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

TikTok’s guidelines also state that it should “enable free expression”. The war between Israel and Hamas has sparked a surge of hate crimes against Jews, Muslims and Arabs around the world. The conflict has been amplified by social media platforms like TikTok, which belongs to China’s ByteDance Ltd, and Elon Musk’s X.

The US and EU have labeled Hamas as a terrorist group. TikTok has prohibited content that supports violent and hateful groups, as per its community guidelines.