Jewish Federations of North America are urging President Donald Trump to ensure that any deal over the sale of social media platform TikTok includes concrete steps to address antisemitism on the platform.

 

"As the details of this deal are finalized, we urge you to ensure that the agreement requires the new owners to take concrete and sufficient steps to purge this powerful social media platform of the pervasive antisemitism which is inciting violence against the Jewish community in America and creating a hostile environment for Jews in schools, in the workplace and in our communities," the group's leaders wrote Trump in a letter signed by Board Chair Gary Torgow, Public Affairs Committee Chair Jason Wuliger, and President and CEO Eric D. Fingerhut.

 

President Trump announced this week that a framework deal had been reached, and that final details would be ironed out as soon as this Friday. 

 

Jewish Federations strongly supported the passage of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Application Act, also known as the TikTok bill, which mandated the sale of the company from China. 

 

At that time, data showed that antisemitic comments on TikTok had increased by 912 percent in just one year, and that young people who spent only 30 minutes a day on the app were significantly more likely to adopt antisemitic or anti-Israel views, far more than users of other platforms.  

 

"If anything, the situation has only grown worse since the passage of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Application Act, as antisemitic incitement and violence continues to rise across our country.  The consequences are serious, both for the safety of our community and for the broader health of American civic life," the letter said.

 

"The potential deal you have negotiated for the sale of TikTok is without doubt the best possible moment to address this issue. We urge you to direct your negotiating team to do so as a high priority.  We stand ready to assist in any way that we might be helpful," it added.

 

The letter was dated the same day Jewish Federations joined with several major Jewish organizations in a High Holiday security briefing on Capitol Hill, where they urged Congress to take concrete action to secure the Jewish community in the face of rising antisemitism.

 

One of the planks of the six-point security agenda the groups have endorsed is tackling antisemitism on social media.

 

Read the full letter here.