- The “Letter to America,” attributed to Osama bin Laden, has gained new popularity among American millennials in recent days against the backdrop of the war between Israel and Hamas.
- On Thursday, TikTok began actively removing these videos, saying they violated its charter, which prohibits “support of any form of terrorism.”
- While American opinion is largely supportive of Israel, 52% of 18- to 34-year-olds, who are particularly active on TikTok, lean toward Palestinians (compared to 29% who support the Hebrew state).
“Read this letter, I am in the middle of an existential crisis,” “It opened my eyes,” “Everything we learned about the Middle East, 9/11, and “terrorism” was a lie.” In several videos published on TikTok – but also on Instagram – in recent days, young Americans have expressed their astonishment at a 2002 letter attributed to Osama Bin Laden, which describes the attacks of September 11, in which almost 3,000 people were killed were justified in response to the imperialism of the United States and the “oppression” of Muslims, particularly in Palestine. 21 years later, out-of-context propaganda that finds new resonance among millennials in the midst of the Hamas-Israel war.
TikTok, which is facing a ban in the US, has been accused of amplifying the phenomenon to sow discord in the West and is actively deleting videos that “support terrorism”. The Guardian, in turn, deleted the translation of the letter (archived here) and instead pointed to an article that provides more “context” to the Islamist terrorist’s propaganda.
Step 1: Videos released last week on the conflict between Hamas and Israel
According to Google Trends search volumes, the phenomenon remained marginal last week.
The first videos posted on TikTok drew a parallel between the situation of Palestinians today, amid the conflict between Hamas and Israel, and that described twenty years ago by the former leader of al-Qaeda, who was killed during an attack in Pakistan in 2011 Operation approved by Barack Obama.
Step 2: An influencer promotes the letter on Tuesday
On Tuesday, Lynette Adkins, a New York lifestyle influencer who had 177,000 followers but has since deleted her account, shared her opinion in a video titled “I’m Not Feeling Well.” She urges her subscribers to read the letter and says she is experiencing an “existential crisis.” The video was viewed 1.6 million times. Viral mimicry takes hold, the subject explodes.
Step 3: The Guardian deleted the translation of the letter on Wednesday
The Guardian, the main source of this rediscovery, removes the translation of the letter. Not surprisingly, the “Streisand” effect, according to which any attempt to censor or delete information on the Internet makes the Internet even more popular, is in full swing. “This transcript posted on our website was widely shared on social media without full context. We have therefore decided to remove it and instead redirect our readers to the article that originally contextualized it,” specifies the newspaper.
Step 4: An American journalist criticizes (and blows up) the phenomenon
Yashar Ali, an American journalist followed by more than 700,000 people on According to his research, many users say that bin Laden’s letter “caused them to reconsider their view of what is often portrayed as terrorism and what could be a form of legitimate resistance against a hostile power.” Yashar Ali’s video is taken up everywhere. The volume of articles archived by Google immediately doubles.
Step 5: TikTok cracks down on Thursday and deletes videos
“Content promoting this letter clearly violates our rules against supporting any form of terrorism,” TikTok says. The international subsidiary of the Chinese group Bytedance, headquartered in Los Angeles and one in Singapore, is deleting most of the videos and hashtags related to Bin Laden’s letter. Contrary to what critics of TikTok say, there is currently no evidence that the viral phenomenon was orchestrated or promoted by the company. The most popular testimonials seem to come from long-standing, authentic reports.
20 seconds of context
If American opinion remains overwhelmingly pro-Israel (54%, compared to 24% pro-Palestinian and 22% with no opinion), there are generational and important policies, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday (pdf). Of the 18- to 34-year-olds who are particularly active on TikTok, 52% support the Palestinians (compared to 29% for the Hebrew state). On the political party side, Republicans support the Jewish state by 80%. However, more Democrats sympathize with the Palestinians (41%) than with Israel (34%).