Thousands of videos of Osama bin Laden’s letter to America were shared on TikTok.
Many young TikTok users claimed to have adopted a changed perspective on the United States and Israel after reading the letter.
“The Guardian had a copy of ‘Letter to America’ posted, but once these TikToks went viral, the Guardian took it down, which has only led to more interest in the letter and conspiracies from TikTokers who say this is part of the media and the powers that control it trying to silence the truth,” tweeted journalist Yashar Ali.
After the letter received millions of views on TikTok, the social media platform posted a statement to X, formerly known as Twitter, saying, “Content promoting this letter clearly violates our rules on supporting any form of terrorism. We are proactively and aggressively removing this content and investigating how it got onto our platform. The number of videos on TikTok is small and reports of it trending on our platform are inaccurate. This is not unique to TikTok and has appeared across multiple platforms and the media.”
Warning: The video below contains explicit language.
Content promoting this letter clearly violates our rules on supporting any form of terrorism. We are proactively and aggressively removing this content and investigating how it got onto our platform. The number of videos on TikTok is small and reports of it trending on our… https://t.co/n9Zo7l94r2
— TikTok Policy (@TikTokPolicy) November 16, 2023
The letter was published in The Guardian in 2002 but was removed from its website after it circulated on TikTok.
Osama bin Laden’s letter quoted the Quran and explained to Americans why it was being opposed.
Much of the letter discussed the “occupied” land of Palestine and America’s support for Israel.
The letter also called for the United States to adopt Islam.
A number of U.S. states have banned TikTok on state devices due to national security concerns.
As of January 2023, the states prohibiting the app on government devices include: Florida, Nebraska, South Dakota, South Carolina, Maryland, Indiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, Alabama, Iowa, North Dakota, Idaho, New Hampshire, Georgia, Virginia, Montana, West Virginia, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Ohio, New Jersey, Arkansas, Wisconsin, and North Carolina.
