The ongoing discourse around social media and extremism took a strange twist earlier this month after users of the social media platform Tik Tok discovered a 2002 work by Osama bin Laden called “Letter to America.” Tik Tokers noted the letter’s analysis of American imperialism and its effects on the Middle East, as well as the influence of Zionist thought on American politics. Many expressed shock and acted as if the brief letter completely altered their conception of the world, as if this was the very first critique of American foreign policy they ever encountered. This controversy ignited a very dumb conversation about the influence of social media, and Tik Tok in general, on young people.

To unpack this tempest in a teapot, Travis, Jake, and Liv discuss the letter itself, how Tik Tokers reacted to it, and how the controversy may be inflated by panic over Chinese-owned Tik Tok.

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Liv Agar: livagar.com / linktr.ee/livagar

Music by Pontus Berghe. Editing by Corey Klotz.

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References:

Full Text: bin Laden’s Letter to Americahttps://web.archive.org/web/20040615081002/http://observer.guardian.co.uk/worldview/story/0,11581,845725,00.html

Letter to American people Wikipedia Pagehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_to_the_American_people

404 Media: The Guardian Deletes Osama Bin Laden’s Letter to America Because it Went Viral on TikTokhttps://www.404media.co/guardian-deletes-osama-bin-ladens-letter-to-america-after-it-goes-viral-on-tiktok/

Washington Post: How Osama bin Laden’s ‘Letter to America’ reached millions onlinehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2023/11/16/guardian-osama-bin-laden-letter-to-america/

CNN: Some young Americans on TikTok say they sympathize with Osama bin Ladenhttps://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/16/tech/tiktok-osama-bin-laden-letter-to-america/index.html

Vice News: TikTok Says It's Not the Algorithm, Teens Are Just Pro-Palestinehttps://www.vice.com/en/article/wxjb8b/tiktok-its-not-the-algorithm-teens-are-just-pro-palestine

Vice News: TikTok Says It's Not the Algorithm, Teens Are Just Pro-Palestinehttps://www.vice.com/en/article/wxjb8b/tiktok-its-not-the-algorithm-teens-are-just-pro-palestine

Ryan Broderick: TikTok teens aren’t stanning Osama Bin Ladenhttps://www.garbageday.email/p/tiktok-teens-arent-stanning-osama

Reuters: Montana to become first US state to ban Tik Tokhttps://www.reuters.com/world/us/montana-governor-signs-bill-banning-tiktok-state-2023-05-17/

New York Times: Nikki Haley Renews Call for TikTok Ban After Bin Laden Letter Circulateshttps://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/17/us/politics/nikki-haley-tiktok-ban.html

New York Times: Lawmakers Renew Calls to Ban Tik Tok After Accusations of Anti-Israel Contenthttps://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/08/business/tiktok-accusations-anti-israel-content.html