Top Israeli TikTok official quits company amid accusations of antisemitism on platform
'I resigned from TikTok. We are living in a time in which our existence as Jews and Israelis is under attack and in danger,' Barak Herscowitz posted Monday
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}TikTok’s top government relations official in Israel resigned from his position this week after pointing to the proliferation of antisemitic content on the platform.
Barak Herscowitz, a TikTok vertical lead presiding over the app’s partnership with the Israeli government, shared on X Monday that he was leaving the company.
Herscowitz, also a former advisor to former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, wrote, "I resigned from TikTok. We are living in a time in which our existence as Jews and Israelis is under attack and in danger."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Herscowitz then hinted he was leaving because he realized his work at the Chinese-owned social media company did not fulfill his commitment to his country during its war against the terror group Hamas.
EXCLUSIVE: JEWISH EMPLOYEES AT TIKTOK SHARE DETAILS OF HOSTILE, ANTISEMITIC WORK ENVIRONMENT
A senior Israeli TikTok employee announced his resignation from the platform as a way to express solidarity with Israel's war against Hamas. (Picture Alliance, Contributor, 2. SOPA Images)
"In such an unstable era, people's priorities are sharpened," he said, adding, "Am Yisrael Chai," a Jewish solidarity slogan, meaning, "The People of Israel Live."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}One user asked the former TikTok official why he wasn’t staying with the platform to influence their content regarding Israel and the Jewish people. Herskowitz responded, "I did my best as long as I was there. There are wonderful people at TikTok Israel who are doing their best."
As noted by Jewish Insider, Herscowitz had previously criticized the social media platform for appearing to be more sympathetic to pro-Palestinian groups than pro-Israeli ones in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre.
According to Jewish Insider, a TikTok source recently claimed that Herscowitz was the unnamed senior TikTok employee in the company’s Israel office who wrote a memo to senior management last month highlighting an unequal policy toward the paid humanitarian campaigns pitched by Israeli families compared to pro-Palestinian groups.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The memo also claimed there has been a flippant, even biased, approach to organic content uploaded by users to the site that is violent and deeply inciting.
Herscowitz allegedly penned a memo to TikTok management last month accusing the platform of promoting pro-Palestinian groups' voices over those defending Israel. (Leigh Green for Fox News Digital)
The memo did acknowledge that there has been an effort to remove antisemitic content on the platform – however, it also pointed out there are many employees at TikTok who have shared "support for terrorism or endorsed extremist movements" that work against Israel.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"This, very likely, influences the amount of hostile propaganda against Israel and Jews and harmful misinformation on our platform, both in the USA and Europe," the person alleged to be Herscowitz wrote in December.
At the time, TikTok denied the complaints, stating, "We are clear in our advertising policies what content is allowed to be advertised and apply those policies equally to all ads on TikTok. We invest heavily in training our moderators to apply these policies consistently."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Herscowitz declined Fox News Digital’s request for comment and TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fox News’ Ruth Marks Eglash contributed to this report.