Then they came for the TikTokers
And I didn't speak up because the platform isn't built for dialogue
One of the most frustrating things about being terminally online is that there just isn’t enough time in the world to tell all the wrong people that they’re wrong.
In conflict times, social media is a digital warfront. It is obviously a useful tool for disseminating propaganda and influencing thought. Misinformation and propaganda spring up and die at the speed of memes. Emotions are high and people react quickly. The constant barrage of content is nearly impossible to keep up with.
It’s a draining way to spend time.
Outside of discussion pertaining to the war, Jewish creators on Tik Tok are facing their own reckoning as audiences turn on them for supporting Israel.
“Why does this cup have two handles? Hi, my name is Miriam, I’m an Orthodox Jew, and I share what my life is like.”
Miriam Ezagui holds a negel vasser up to the camera. The video has nearly 300 comments.
“Please address the criticism people are giving you,” says one.
“Why is colonization and ethnic cleansing not upsetting to you?”
“Could you share your grandma’s opinions on Zionism? Could you ask her to share?”
“Calling yourself an Orthodox Jew but being okay with what’s happening is highly hypocritical and you’re choosing what suits you. Not a true Orthodox.” From Tik Tok creator Nour Nassar , with 100,000 followers.
Jewish Tik Tokers have always been in a vulnerable position. Since the start of the recent conflict, most popular Orthodox Jewish Tik Tokers have come out as Zionist or pro-Israel – an unsurprising find considering most American Orthodox Jews are pro-Israel.
While some creators have historically engaged with Israel in some way – for example, by taking trips – most do not create content about the Israel/Palestine conflict. An errant “Free Palestine” comment is not unusual, but usually creators try to stay away from controversy – likely because they anticipated this exact response.
Much of the engagement around Orthodox Jewish creators comes from content that is “controversial”, because controversy drives engagement. For example, content related to wigs, family purity, interfaith relationships, eruvim, shabbat observance and kosher food have high engagement, especially compared to something like general lifestyle content. It often seems that commenters are genuinely infuriated by Orthodox practices and belief as they regularly dissect the stringent halachic guidelines and accuse the creators of cult-like or exclusionary behaviour.
Despite that, many Orthodox creators seemed beloved by their largely non-Jewish audiences. Creators like Miriam Ezagui and Melinda Strauss were regarded as approachable, articulate, and even maternal by audiences who fielded question after invasive question.
What audiences seem to think about Jews falls into two categories.
The first is that not all Jews are Zionists. This is true, but they assume that Zionists are an extremist minority rather than an ordinary part of the Jewish world. For stern anti-Zionists, videos of Neturei Karta are circulated as proof that even “true Orthodox Jews” do not actually endorse Zionism.
The second is that all Jews are Zionists unless proven otherwise. They expect and hope for Jewish creators to reveal themselves to be Zionists.
Tik Tok is not a great platform for thoughtful, nuanced dialogue. Comments spring up in the thousands. While one could address individual commenters and explain that in fact most Orthodox Jews are Zionists and we don’t base our understanding of Orthodox Jews on the Neturei Karta, there is no guarantee that this content will organically surface on the feeds of the people who need to see it.
“Who do you think Zionists are?” Miriam asks. The answer is obvious to her – it’s a word that describes the majority of Jews in the diaspora, if not nearly everyone in Israel. While most Jews can and do have nuanced takes on Zionism, and many have a fraught relationship with its meaning, the people who lob the word around pejoratively know no greater insult. Zionist is clear and devastating. Like being a racist in polite American society, it is one of the greatest moral sins.
Prior to the events of October 7th, when commenters demanded that Jewish Tik Tok creators speak up on Israel, they hoped to confirm or deny their fear that the creator secretly harboured Zionist tendencies. That they might reveal themselves to be exactly like all the other Jews. The mean ones. The racists. The colonizers. The baby killers. The Zionists.
Often, well-meaning people would respond by saying that just because this Tik Toker is Jewish doesn’t mean they’re a Zionist! Not all Jews support Israel. They would sometimes incorrectly say that actually, Orthodox Judaism is incompatible with Zionism. These are the same people who have turned on the Jewish creators, because they gave a Jew the benefit of the doubt and feel honestly betrayed.
In one tearful stitch of Miriam’s video where she posed the question about Zionists, a woman says, “In your line of thinking, ‘never again’ meant ‘never again’ for you and your people. It didn’t mean that for humanity in general. You don’t want to see humanity do better and get better, as long as your people get what they want, you’re fine.”
She rails against Miriam for ignoring the suffering of the Palestinians (having not watched the video all the way through), asserts that only Israel benefits from propaganda, and then concludes her video with an accusation befitting of a villainous Jewish caricature: “If you really, truly cared about ‘never again,’ why have you never spoken up about the genocide happening in China right now against Chinese Muslims? Don’t worry. I’ll wait. Because ‘never again’ only applies to you.”
Whataboutism, the bubonic plague of Tik Tok recipe videos, rears its ugly head in times of war, too. I know the recipe calls for anchovies, but I hate the taste of fish. Since you claim to care about the murder of Jewish civilians, are you also prepared to speak on the suffering of all others?
Tik Tok is a terrible platform to host nuanced discussions. There are too many people making too much content and posting too many comments. For the Orthodox Jewish creators who carved a niche for themselves showing their lives, I wonder what their future will be. Will they ever regain the trust of their audiences? Will their engagement drop? Will new creators be more forthcoming about their Zionism? I wonder if any of them feel betrayed by the audiences and communities they cultivated. I wonder if any of them thought that they were a force for positivity, good PR for the Orthodox Jews so routinely villainized. I wonder if any of them regret sharing.
Misinformation will probably continue to circulate forever. People will always be wrong. Jews will always field annoying comments on social media. Many of us are angry and frightened, feeling betrayed by our own friends with whom we can no longer see eye to eye. People will always be wrong, stupid and petty, and there truly isn’t enough time to let them all know.
Nobody knows what will happen tomorrow, but I hope things get better.