TikTok bans Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda due to large following

Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda has announced that her TikTok account has been permanently banned from the platform. The ban comes days after TikTok’s US ownership was finalized, with new investors in the United States acquiring a stake in the company.

Owda, an Emmy Award-winning journalist and contributor to Al Jazeera’s AJ+, shared a video on her Instagram and X accounts explaining that her account had been deleted. She stated that she expected some level of restriction but not a permanent ban.

In her video, Owda pointed to recent remarks from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Adam Presser, the new CEO of TikTok’s US arm, as possible explanations for the ban. Netanyahu recently met with pro-Israel influencers in New York, stating his hope that the “purchase” of TikTok would go through. He also mentioned the importance of social media in the context of conflict.

Presser, who previously worked as head of operations in the US, shared a video discussing changes made at TikTok. In it, he stated that the use of the term Zionist as a proxy for a protected attribute had been designated “as hate speech”.

Owda’s social media presence grew from posting daily videos in which she greeted her audience and shared updates about her work as a journalist. Her account on TikTok had gained 1.4 million followers over four years.

The ban comes amid ongoing tensions in the region, including an Israeli attack last week that killed three Palestinian journalists in Gaza. The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that at least 207 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since October 2023.

Source: Al Jazeera