Editorial: Antisemitic hate on TikTok has real-world consequences

The current situation in the US is the perfect example of how words, particularly inflammatory words, have consequences, writes the editor.

Hateful rhetoric can spread across the globe in a flash on social media.

The current situation in the US is the perfect example of how words, particularly inflammatory words, have consequences.

While it is easy to blame President Donald Trump for all of that nation’s ills, the fact is that the standards of political discourse in America have been slipping for decades and agitators on the Left and the Right have succeeded in fracturing the political landscape.

The result is the Divided States, a nation where Democrats and Republicans apparently have nothing in common, except for their loathing of the other side.

Some politicians have even called for a “national divorce” – a dividing of the country along political lines.

And as rhetoric becomes increasingly inflamed, the influence that words can have on some people – be they angry or vulnerable or mentally ill or just bad – is shown through atrocities such as the murder of a Minnesota Democrat politician had her husband, as well as the wounding of a state senator and his wife.

The fact that the suspect is a former employee of Democrat vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz shows two things – that you should never jump to conclusions, and political violence in the US is bipartisan.

Which brings us to social media, in particularly TikTok.

As we report today, the Chinese-owned social media company has done little to nothing to moderate extremist views inflamed by the bombing campaign Israel launched against Iranian targets, or the Iranian response of missile strikes against Israeli cities.

TikTok is no longer just annoying viral dances. The latest trending video features a sound bite “Iran, if you are listening, just do it”.

The implication is clear. That Iran use nuclear weapons against the state of Israel. The original video had itself amassed 1.4m views, with other videos encouraging the destruction of Israel using the sick catchphrase.

This resulted in an explosion of anti-Semitic commentary on the platform, including many that referenced Hitler and Nazi-style rhetoric. One user said they were “praying for Israel to disappear from the map”.

TikTok allowed this to happen for two days – the wave of unfettered Jew-hate defeated all their checks, be it artificial intelligence or the much-vaunted algorithm. TikTok’s checks can spot a stray nipple a mile away, they just seem to struggle identifying a call for nuclear annihilation of a democracy.

TikTok only began taking down the offending videos after The Courier-Mail’s Mikaela Mulveney approached the social media platform for comment.

This is something that we have seen before from TikTok and other social media companies – action that comes only after the media gets involved. It suggests that they are not really interested in being good corporate citizens – who would have thought.

Which brings us back to the notion that words can have unintentional consequence.

While we are not suggesting that TikTok’s users could spark nuclear war, anti-Semitism can and had led to shocking abuses and history’s darkest page.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin is appalled.

“We’ve allowed a situation to arise where anti-Semitism has moved from the fringes of society to now being a mainstream popular movement that’s now attracting young people in ever increasing numbers,” he said.

The consequences are being felt by Australian Jews every day.

PM’S TRUMP AGENDA

In many ways Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has nothing to lose in his meeting with US President Donald Trump.

Mr Albanese will meet with Mr Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada, where he will push the case to exempt Australia from the tariffs that the US has imposed on the entire world.

At the moment, Australia is subject to just a 10 per cent tariff on exports. Compared with much of the world, we are getting off lightly, but the tariffs make no sense, especially as we buy more products from the US than they do from us.

However, Mr Albanese will make Australia’s case anyway, with no real expectation of success.

Any concession from Mr Trump will be a great feather in the cap of the Prime Minister.

What might be more awkward for Mr Albanese is the subject of AUKUS, with the US saying recently that they want to review the agreement that would have seen Australia buy three nuclear submarines from the Americans as we build five of our own.

That may not stand up to this administration’s “America-first” ethos. If that is in fact the case, then Mr Albanese will have a huge task changing Mr Trump’s mind.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details here

Originally published as Editorial: Antisemitic hate on TikTok has real-world consequences