Barak Herscowitz, TikTok's top government relations official in Israel, has resigned from his position, citing the spread of antisemitic content on the social media platform as a key factor in his decision.
Herscowitz, who also served as a former advisor to ex-Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, announced his departure on Monday.
In a statement, Herscowitz said, "I resigned from TikTok. We are living in a time in which our existence as Jews and Israelis is under attack and in danger." He suggested that his role at the Chinese-owned company did not align with his commitment to his nation, particularly during its conflict with the terrorist organization, Hamas.
Herscowitz added, "In such an unstable era, people's priorities are sharpened," and concluded his statement with "Am Yisrael Chai," a Jewish solidarity slogan translating to "The People of Israel Live."
When questioned by a user about his decision to leave the platform instead of using his position to influence its content regarding Israel and the Jewish community, Herscowitz responded, "I did my best as long as I was there. There are wonderful people at TikTok Israel who are doing their best."
Jewish Insider reported that Herscowitz had previously criticized TikTok for seemingly favoring pro-Palestinian groups over pro-Israeli ones, particularly following the massacre by Hamas on October 7.
According to the same source, an unnamed TikTok insider recently suggested that Herscowitz was the senior employee in the company's Israel office who last month penned a memo to top management. The memo reportedly highlighted an unequal policy towards humanitarian campaigns proposed by Israeli families compared to those by pro-Palestinian groups.
The memo also accused the platform of a dismissive, and potentially biased, attitude towards user-generated content that incites violence. While acknowledging efforts to remove antisemitic content, the memo also claimed that several TikTok employees had expressed "support for terrorism or endorsed extremist movements" against Israel.
"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 memo, allegedly written by Herscowitz, stated in December.
TikTok, however, denied these allegations. In a statement, the company said, "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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