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Streams of racism leave parents worried for their TikTok-addicted kids

Jewish mums and dads speak out over of their concerns about 'Nazi-grade antisemitism' on popular platform

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Mobile phone addiction or cyber bullying young boy on cellphone

Jewish parents have spoken of their concerns about “Nazi-grade antisemitism” viewed by children on TikTok.

Videos pushing baseless conspiracy theories, Jewish stereotypes and race hatred have all proliferated on the popular social media platform in recent years.

A quarter of TikTok users in the UK are aged between 15 and 25, according to analysis by Statista.

Natalie, who did not wish to provide her surname, is a mother of three girls ages 15, 12 and 8.

She told the JC she was deeply worried about the “highly addictive” app and did not know what “long-term damage” it might do to her daughters.

“I am really concerned about TikTok but to be honest I don’t know how to control it,” she said.

“I’ve blocked the app but they have found their way through it. Other than confiscating their electronics which I’ve resorted to doing, we can’t escape it.

“There is so much horrid content on there, soft porn, racism. For example, one of my daughters was so upset to see Kayne West’s antisemitism on there.”

Dave Rich, the Community Security Trust’s Head of Policy, claimed that his own 16-year-old son had been exposed to a raft of antisemitic content.

Although the teeenager had not consumed Jewish or conspiracy content by choice, hardcore antisemitism had appeared on his “For You” page, which suggests new content to view. These included an image of a hand emblazoned with a Star of David crushing a group of people.

Another shocking video claimed, “Every single aspect of the media is Jewish,” before listing Jewish television and film industry executives.

A conspiracy post said: “Crosses are banned on federal land while the White House holds a menorah lighting ceremony every year.”

Mr Rich told the JC: “The videos that TikTok recommended to my son were as antisemitic as they come and should never have been allowed on the platform in the first place.

"My son is more than capable of recognising antisemitism, but as he put it to me: what about all the other teenagers around the world who do not know anything about Jews and are being pushed this anti-Jewish hate by their favourite social media app?”

Denise Rubin, a London-born mother living in Israel, said she was worried about the “Zombie syndrome” it triggered for her sons, aged eight and 12. “I want to get my kids off Tiktok but I don’t manage to do so. My son’s constantly on Tiktok and I don’t have any control over it even though I try,” she told the JC.

TikTok, which was only launched outside China in 2017, is a platform for a wide range of short videos. Many of its most popular posts are of catchy dances, comedy sketches or cooking, but conspiracy theories and Jew hate have proliferated too.

Earlier this year, a Jewish TikTok content creator known as Anat who has over 25,000 followers told Jewish Link the amount of antisemitism on the app is “exceptionally larger” than others.

“Anyone who’s thinking about coming onto these platforms and making content as a Jewish content creator specifically, will need to have very thick skin,” she added.

A TikTok spokesperson said: “We condemn antisemitism in all its forms, and there is no place for this kind of content on our platform. We have removed the accounts flagged and banned content relating to this film for violating our Community Guidelines.

“We continually seek to strengthen our policies and systems to counter hateful behaviour.”

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