Anti-Semitic TikTok video sparks rage, draws calls for better Holocaust education

Editor’s note: The following story deals with sensitive issues surrounding anti-Semitism and the Holocaust. Some readers may find the content disturbing or offensive.

An anti-Semitic video posted by a Quebec teen on TikTok is sparking anger in Montreal’s Jewish community.

“I was speechless. That hit home for me,” said Lauren Lieberman, a Jewish woman from Montreal.

“I think enough is enough. Jewish people are targeted every single day and everyone is silent about it.”

A recent trend on TikTok has users asking others to show them they are something, without actually explicitly saying it.

This time, it was, “tell me you’re Jewish without telling me you’re Jewish.”

A TikToker who says he’s 18 years old and from Quebec responded with a reference to the ovens of concentration camps.

“My grandparents were in the Holocaust. I went on the march of the living, I hold it very close to my heart,” said Lieberman.

Lieberman, who has a sizeable social media following herself, denounced the video to her Instagram followers. In doing so she pointed to other offensive online trends, including a series of TikTok videos in which teens were dressing up like concentration camp prisoners.

“They’re young and they think it’s OK. They think it’s a joke, and that’s why I think that everyone needs to be educated on World War Two,” she told Global News.

A survey done last year found that 63 per cent of American Millennials and Generation Z members did not know 6 million Jews were murdered by Nazis in the Holocaust. Nearly 50 per cent could not name a single concentration camp.

The Centre For Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) denounced the video.

“It’s just so sad. It’s just so sad that survivors have to see this, that we’re subjected to this,” said CIJA spokesperson Rabbi Reuben Poupko, who told Global News he had spoken with a 103-year-old Holocaust survivor on the same day he had seen the video for the first time.

Dr. Joan Donovan, research director at Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy, said trends on TikTok will almost always eventually turn to racism and anti-Semitism.

“There is this law on the Internet called Godwin’s Law, which is this idea that any online discussion, the longer it goes on, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches,” Donovan told Global News.

She said attention-hungry teens and adults will sometimes post racist content because they know it will evoke a reaction.

“In some respects, teenagers get into this position because, one, they’re seeking attention, which we all do. You don’t you don’t need to be a teenager to seek attention. But in some instances, they lack the knowledge. What’s worse is when they know it’s bad and they do it anyway,” she said.

Montreal’s Centre for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence told Global News it is working to implement new programs to be able to track hateful content that originates in Quebec, to better understand how to prevent it.

Donovan says hateful content online often gets traction.

“Once you start to engage with hateful content online, you’re actually adding fuel to the fire,” she said, adding that white supremacist groups often use humour to recruit new members.

After Lieberman called out the Quebec TikToker and thousands denounced the video, the teen took it down and apologized. In his apology, he said some thought it was funny but others took offence, and that he realizes the Holocaust is not a joking matter.

“There is no place for anti-Semitism on our platform or off it. TikTok’s mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy and we do not tolerate content that promotes hateful behaviour. We are committed to promoting a safe community environment and remove content that violates our Community Guidelines,” a TikTok spokesperson said in an email.

The teen could not be reached for comment.