Numerous young Americans on TikTok have recently uploaded videos expressing sympathy for Osama bin Laden, the infamous terrorist responsible for the September 11 attacks. These videos were prompted by a letter he wrote two decades ago, which criticized the United States, its government, and its support of Israel. Originally published in 2002, the letter resurfaced on the social media platform and has gained at least 14 million views as of Thursday. Many of these videos were shared within the context of criticizing American support for Israel during the ongoing conflict with Hamas.
TikTok responded to the videos by stating that they violated the platform’s rules against supporting terrorism. The company claimed that the number of videos promoting the letter was small and that reports of it trending on their platform were inaccurate. However, TikTok did not provide specific data to support this claim.
TikTok is immensely popular among young Americans, with a majority of individuals under 30 using the app at least once a week, according to a KFF survey. Many of these users were born after the 9/11 attacks orchestrated by Bin Laden, in which nearly 3,000 people were killed. Despite the difficulty in accurately measuring sentiments on TikTok, a review by CNN found several dozen videos praising or sympathizing with the ideas expressed in Bin Laden’s letter, titled “Letter to America.”
Some of these videos were shared with the hashtag #lettertoamerica and had accumulated over 14 million views by Thursday. However, there were also videos from users expressing frustration and disgust towards the letter and its praise on the platform.
In one video that has since been removed, a New York-based lifestyle influencer encouraged others to read the letter and expressed how it had profoundly affected their perspective on life. Another video, viewed over 100,000 times, featured a TikTok user criticizing the American government and equating Bin Laden with a terrorist.
The White House condemned this apparent trend, considering it an insult to the victims of the 9/11 attacks. A spokesperson emphasized that there could never be a justification for spreading the repugnant lies of Bin Laden, particularly during a time when antisemitic violence is on the rise and Hamas has committed violent acts against the Jewish community.
Imran Ahmed, the CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, described TikTok as a platform that prioritizes high engagement at any cost, using various types of content to keep users addicted. Ahmed stated that the most viral content on TikTok tends to be the most simplistic and controversial, rather than intelligent takes on complex issues.
The letter itself contains a broad critique of American foreign policy, along with antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories, such as the claim that AIDS was a “Satanic American Invention.” It particularly focuses on US support for Israel and disputes the historical right of Jews to Palestine.
Peter Bergen, a CNN National Security Analyst who conducted the first television interview with Bin Laden in 1997, finds the popularity of the letter on TikTok puzzling. Many of the platform’s users were either too young or not even born during the 9/11 attacks, lacking historical context. Bergen remains skeptical about the letter’s origin and authenticity, questioning whether Bin Laden actually wrote it.
The Guardian, the newspaper that initially published a translated version of the letter in 2002, removed it from their website after TikTok users directly linked to the document. The newspaper stated that the letter had been widely shared on social media without proper contextualization and redirected readers to their original news article instead. However, the letter is still available on other online platforms.
Recent data from the Pew Research Center reveals that TikTok is increasingly becoming a source of news for young Americans. Approximately one-third of individuals aged 18-29 regularly obtain news from TikTok, and the overall percentage of US adults who rely on TikTok for news has quadrupled from 3% in 2020 to 14% in 2023.
