Social Media Crackdown: Viral Osama Bin Laden Letter Justifying 9/11 Attacks

Instagram and TikTok crack down on viral posts sharing Osama bin Laden's letter justifying 9/11 attacks after user reactions.

Social media giants Instagram and TikTok have taken action to remove Osama bin Laden's 2002 letter justifying the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon after it gained traction on their platforms.

The letter, which was being read and positively reacted to by users on TikTok, particularly those associated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), prompted journalist Christina Buttons to report on the situation. Instagram hid the hashtag #LetterToAmerica, while TikTok asserted that the content violated their rules on supporting terrorism and promptly removed the hashtag.

According to TikTok, "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." Videos urging people to read the letter or expressing agreement with bin Laden's views on Israel and the U.S. garnered thousands of views on social media.

TikTok and Instagram have seen similar content on their platforms, with users sharing TikTok posts on Instagram. TikTok has been under scrutiny for allowing anti-Israel content during the Israel-Hamas War and for its connections to the CCP, as the platform is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, which has an internal CCP committee.

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida highlighted the issue, stating, "Now trending on social media (especially TikTok) people saying that after reading Bin Laden's 'Letter to America,' they now understand terrorism is a legitimate method of resistance against 'oppression' and America deserved to be attacked of 9/11."

As of the time of reporting, TikTok, Instagram, and Meta had not responded to requests for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation. The Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, offers its content without charge to legitimate news publishers, provided that they include the Foundation's logo, the reporter's byline, and their affiliation. For inquiries about guidelines or partnerships, contact [email protected].