Osama Bin Laden’s 'Letter to America' Shared Widely on TikTok

Osama bin Laden’s “Letter to America,” published in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, is circulating on TikTok amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Details: Bin Laden’s letter, published in 2003 in The Guardian (Lean Left bias), outlines the motivations for the attack on America. He states the attacks were in part in retaliation for the United States’ support of Israel, deeming the nation a “crime which must be erased.” The Guardian removed the letter from its website on Wednesday, stating it was being “shared on social media without the full context,” but not before it was shared widely on TikTok, with Newsweek (Center bias) quoting one user stating that “everyone should read it.”

Key Quotes: CNN Business (Lean Left bias) quoted Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates stating, “There is never a justification for spreading the repugnant, evil, and antisemitic lies that the leader of al Qaeda issued just after committing the worst terrorist attack in American history.” A TikTok spokesperson told Fox Business (Lean Right bias) that “Content promoting this letter clearly violates our rules on supporting any form of terrorism. We are proactively and aggressively removing this content and investigating how it got onto our platform,” adding that “the number of videos on TikTok is small and reports of it trending on our platform are inaccurate.”

How the Media Covered It: Outlets across the spectrum are covering the drama surrounding the letter, mainly featuring quotes critical of TikTok users agreeing with the message of the letter.