Prominent Jewish celebrities, including Sacha Baron Cohen, Debra Messing, and Amy Schumer, held a private virtual meeting with TikTok executives this week to address the alarming rise of antisemitic content on the platform. The New York Times obtained a recording of the meeting, during which the celebrities and content creators expressed their concerns about the hate directed at Jewish users on TikTok. They described how the platform's tools failed to prevent comments like "Hitler was right" or "I hope you end up like Anne Frank" under their videos. Cohen, known for his role as "Borat," accused TikTok of creating "the biggest antisemitic movement since the Nazis" and urged the executives to take immediate action. He expressed his disappointment and told TikTok's Head of Operations, Adam Presser, "Shame on you," while demanding that the platform remove the distressing content. Presser and Global Head of User Operations, Seth Melnick, acknowledged Cohen's concerns and admitted that social media companies could do more to combat antisemitism. While Presser agreed that there was truth in Cohen's statements, he stated that there was no "magic button" to solve the issue.

The meeting was organized in response to an open letter signed by Jewish content creators, including Cohen, Messing, Schumer, and comedian Michael Rapaport. The letter accused TikTok of being unsafe for Jewish users and detailed the daily harassment and death threats experienced by Jewish creators on the platform. The letter emphasized the urgency of the situation, stating, "We fear that only an unfathomable tragedy befalling a Jewish TikTok creator will lead to change."

During the meeting, Messing also raised concerns about the moderation of the pro-Palestinian slogan "from the river to the sea," which has been deemed antisemitic by the Anti-Defamation League. She argued that TikTok should ban the phrase as it is often used as a call for the eradication of Israel. Presser explained that the interpretation of the phrase was up to TikTok's moderators and that content explicitly calling for violence or the eradication of Israel would be taken down. Messing urged the executives to reconsider their stance, emphasizing that TikTok was a platform for the dissemination of hate against Jews.

Other participants in the meeting questioned the lack of direct communication with TikTok administrators when reporting incidents of harassment on the platform. They shared their frustration, stating that it took several days to receive a response after reporting an incident. Presser and Melnick attributed the delay to a lack of staff and assured the participants that efforts were being made to improve support for creators. They acknowledged that TikTok could do better in addressing the concerns raised.

The virtual meeting came after TikTok faced criticism for allowing an open letter written by Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, to trend on the platform. The letter, released in 2002, contained antisemitic tropes and justified the terrorist attack. In response, TikTok stated that the content promoting the letter violated their rules and that they were actively removing it from the platform. However, TikTok also denied that the bin Laden-related content had gone viral, despite evidence of videos garnering hundreds of thousands of views.

TikTok has been under scrutiny regarding its influence on young users and its handling of hate speech. The platform has previously claimed to have removed nearly a million videos related to the Israel-Hamas conflict and defended the volume of pro-Palestinian posts, stating that younger generations were more likely to sympathize with the cause.

In a statement to the Times, a TikTok spokesperson acknowledged the concerns raised and expressed empathy for the TikTok community during these challenging times. The company stated that they were actively engaging with creators, civil society, human rights experts, and stakeholders to understand their experiences and gather feedback on how to create a safe and inclusive platform.

As the meeting concluded, the participants emphasized TikTok's responsibility as stewards of the daily influence and media consumption of over one billion people. They urged the platform to take immediate action to protect Jewish users and combat antisemitism effectively.