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Washington CNN —President Joe Biden on Saturday night will attend the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, giving the president a stage and primetime slot to needle the media and his rival former President Donald Trump. “I haven’t had a chance to watch the court proceedings because I’ve been campaigning,” Biden told supporters at a campaign reception in New York Thursday, according to pool reports. While Biden has delivered many of these speeches before, the stakes for what could be his last White House Correspondents’ Dinner are high. “He’s the entertainer.”Administration officials said Katzenberg led daily strategy sessions in the White House residence this week to tweak Biden’s comedy set drafted by longtime speechwriter Vinay Reddy. Biden administration officials said they sought to share that concern with Kelly O’Donnell, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association and senior White House correspondent for NBC News, and with Jost’s team in NBC’s entertainment division as well.

Persons: Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Biden, Calvin Coolidge, Trump, “, I’ve, ” Biden, he’d, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Katzenberg, punchlines, Vinay Reddy, Mike Donilon, Steve Ricchetti, Anita Dunn, Karine Jean, Pierre, Annie Tomasini, Live’s Colin Jost, Kelly O’Donnell, ” O’Donnell, –, “ He’s, ”, Rob Flaherty, Dan Cluchey, Jon Macks, Jay Leno ”, Seth Meyers, – Biden, Barack Obama, Lil Jon, Gary Busey, ” Obama, Osama bin Laden Organizations: Washington CNN, White, Trump, Biden, Dreamworks, CNN, New York City –, Republican, ’ Association, White House, NBC News, Gridiron Locations: New York, Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, White, New York City, Washington

☆ Opinion: What does Iran really want?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-14 | by ( Peter Bergen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

“A modern, strong, peaceful Iran could become a pillar of stability and progress in the region,” former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger wrote in 2006. Iran introduced into the Iraqi war zone highly effective roadside bombs known as EFPs – Explosively Formed Penetrators – that wounded and killed hundreds of American soldiers. The official US Army history of the Iraq War concluded that Iran was the only winner of that war. Iran’s ‘cookie-cutter approach’Norman Roule was the top US intelligence official on Iran from 2008 to 2017. The withdrawal of the US troops from neighboring Iraq is a key goal of Iran, which exerts considerable influence over some Iraqi politicians.

Persons: Peter Bergen, Osama bin Laden, Shah, Henry Kissinger, Iran’s ayatollahs, Karim Sadjadpour, Sadjadpour, Reagan, bin Laden, bin, al, Saddam Hussein, –, Noam Chomsky, Iran’s, Norman Roule, Roule, propping, Bashar al, Assad, Christine Abizaid, ”, Trump, Obama, Donald Trump, ‘, Benjamin Netanyahu, hasn’t, Joe Biden, Netanyahu, hadn’t, Biden, Abizaid, Mohammed Shia Organizations: New, Arizona State University, Apple, Spotify, CNN, Saturday, East, CIA, US Army, Israel, US National Counterterrorism Center, US Treasury Department, ‘ Deemed, United Nations, Israel’s, Hamas, Iran, White, ISIS Locations: New America, Israel, Iranian, Damascus, Iran, United States, Palestine, ”, Lebanon, Beirut, Saudi, al Qaeda, Iraqi, Saddam, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Red, Suez, Gaza, New York, Damascus ”, Jordan

☆ Opinion: ISIS is making a comeback
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Peter Bergen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —If ISIS was indeed responsible for the attack Friday at a Moscow-area concert venue that killed at least 133 people, it would suggest that, unfortunately, the terror group is making something of a comeback. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack; a US official told CNN the US has no reason to doubt it. Through that attack, ISIS-K showed that the group, which is very anti-Shia, could target a hostile state like predominantly Shia Iran. In March alone, a Russian state news agency said the country had thwarted multiple ISIS-related incidents, including a plan to attack a synagogue in Moscow. As for capability, the ISIS-K attack in Iran earlier this year demonstrated that the group could carry out a large-scale attack outside of its home base in Afghanistan.

Persons: Peter Bergen, Osama bin Laden, Biden, Qasem Soleimani, Vladimir Putin, ”, Bashar al Assad, Assad, Putin Organizations: New, Arizona State University, Apple, Spotify, CNN, ISIS, US, Kabul Airport, Democratic, US National Security Council, Government Locations: New America, Moscow, Iraq, Syria, United Kingdom, Europe, Paris, Orlando , Florida, Africa, Asia, Afghanistan, Kabul, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Iran, Russian, Russia, ”, Ukraine, Syrian

☆ Should China Own TikTok?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( David Leonhardt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

After Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attack, TikTok flooded users with videos expressing extreme positions from both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, tilted toward the Palestinian side, a Wall Street Journal analysis found. On Monday, the top U.S. intelligence official released a report saying that the Chinese government had used TikTok to promote its propaganda to Americans and to influence the 2022 midterm elections. TikTok is also owned by a company, ByteDance, that’s based in a country that is America’s biggest rival for global power: China. ByteDance executives say that they operate separately from China’s government and that they regularly remove misleading content from TikTok. The most likely scenario, experts say, is that officials aligned with the Chinese government shape TikTok’s algorithm to influence what content Americans see.

Persons: Jeanna Smialek, Jim Tankersley, “, Sapna Maheshwari, China’s, Xi Jinping, Xi Organizations: Rutgers University, Rutgers, Communist Party, Soviet NBC Locations: U.S, Tibet, Hong Kong, United States, China, Soviet

☆ US Army Black Hawk helicopter hit by snowmobile, rider sues government for $9.5 million, says report
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-09 | by ( Rebecca Rommen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A man is suing the government for $9.5 million after he crashed into a Black Hawk helicopter. AdvertisementA Massachusetts lawyer is suing the government for $9.5 million after he crashed into a Black Hawk helicopter while riding a snowmobile, The Associated Press reported. AdvertisementA Black Hawk helicopter. Michael CiagloThe Black Hawk helicopter is a multi-role aircraft designed to aid ground troops and armed escorts, according to the manufacturer Lockheed Martin's website. Black Hawk helicopters are perhaps most famous for their role in the mission that led to the killing of former Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in 2011.

Persons: Jeff Smith, —, Smith, Douglas Desjardins, there's, Michael Ciaglo, Osama bin Laden Organizations: US Army, Service, Hawk, Associated Press, Army, AP, Black, Federal, snowmobilers, Lockheed Martin's Locations: Massachusetts, Al

FORMER PRIME MINISTER NAWAZ SHARIF, PAKISTAN MUSLIM LEAGUEBusiness mogul, multi-millionaire and three-time premier, Nawaz Sharif hails from one of the top two families that have dominated Pakistani politics for decades. He also has a personal stake in keeping imprisoned Imran Khan out of the picture. FORMER PRIME MINISTER IMRAN KHAN, PAKISTAN TEHREEK-E-INSAF PARTYA former cricket star turned Islamist politician, Imran Khan triumphed on an anti-corruption, anti-establishment platform in the 2018 election to form a coalition government. FORMER PRIME MINISTER SHEHBAZ SHARIF, PAKISTAN MUSLIM LEAGUEShehbaz Sharif, 72, the younger brother of Nawaz Sharif, succeeded Imran Khan as prime minister in April 2022. He won his first parliamentary seat in 2018 and became foreign minister after Imran Khan was ousted as prime minister.

Persons: it's, NAWAZ SHARIF, Nawaz Sharif, Sharif, Imran Khan, Khan, ASIM MUNIR, Asim Munir, Munir, IMRAN KHAN, Osama bin Laden, ” —, SHEHBAZ SHARIF, BILAWAL BHUTTO, ZARDARI, Pakistan’s, Bilawal Bhutto, Zardari, Benazir Bhutto, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Bhutto, Asif Ali Zardari Organizations: —, National Assembly, PAKISTAN MUSLIM LEAGUE Business, Pakistan Muslim League, Supreme, Sharif, GEN, ARMY CHIEF, LEAGUE, International Monetary Fund Locations: ISLAMABAD, — Pakistan, PAKISTAN, United Kingdom, Pakistan, Iran, Tehran, Islamabad, United States, U.S, Washington, LEAGUE Shehbaz Sharif, Punjab, London, Sindh

☆ Opinion: The problem with the US bombing strikes
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-03 | by ( Peter Bergen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The Biden administration has also repeatedly said it doesn’t want to go to war with Iran. To tamp down the possibility of a wider regional war, the US needs to focus its efforts on addressing the underlying cause of this roiling conflict: the continued war in Gaza. Previous US strikes have failed to deter Iran and its proxies. It’s possible that US cyber-attacks in Iran could damage key elements of Iranian military command and control structures, but these kinds of attacks can take many weeks to prepare. This article has been updated to reflect the strikes on Houthi targets on Saturday.

Persons: Peter Bergen, Osama bin Laden, Biden, Joe Biden, “, Houthis, Trump, Qasem Soleimani, Let’s, Sayf al, Carl von Clausewitz, Lloyd Austin Organizations: New, Arizona State University, Apple, Spotify, CNN, White House, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, US, United, Adl, Prussian, Hamas, UNRWA Locations: New America, Iraq, Syria, Iranian, Jordan, Iran, Gaza, Yemen, Baghdad, Iran’s, Afghanistan, Tehran, United Nations, East, Lebanon, Israel

☆ Opinion: The US is in the midst of a Middle East regional war
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Peter Bergen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The Biden administration has a regional war on its hands in the Middle East and needs to change its strategy fast. ·Almost daily Israeli strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and almost daily Hezbollah strikes against Israeli targets. ·Multiple Israeli strikes against Iran-linked Syrian targets. ·Pakistan strike against Iranian targets, and Iran strike against Pakistani targets. The options to retaliate for President Biden are complicated, since he does not want to widen the conflict further.

Persons: Peter Bergen, ”, Osama bin Laden, CNN —, Biden, Jimmy Carter, Camp David Organizations: New, Arizona State University, Apple, Spotify, CNN, Pakistan, Hamas, ISIS, Camp Locations: New America, Jordan, Israel, Gaza, Red, Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Iranian, Pakistan, Egypt

☆ Opinion: The real terrorism threat in America isn’t coming from the border
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-28 | by ( Peter Bergen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CLOSE THE BORDER!”Peter Bergen CNNTrump is already in general election mode and he knows that the southern border is a weak spot for President Joe Biden. Strangely, we aren’t hearing stories of terror attacks across the US by people who infiltrated the southern border. Yet no one is calling to build a wall across the Canadian border because of concerns that terrorists are pouring in across America’s northern border. The scaremongering about terrorists pouring across the southern border also misstates where the terrorist threat in the US largely emanates from. When it comes to acts of terrorism, it might behoove Trump to take a careful look in the mirror instead of misdirecting attention to the southern border.

Persons: Peter Bergen, Osama bin Laden, Donald Trump, Peter Bergen CNN Trump, Joe Biden, Trump, Let’s, —, Ahmed Ressam, Omar Mateen, ”, Trump’s, behoove Trump Organizations: New, Arizona State University, Apple, Spotify, CNN, Customs, Border Protection, CBS News, Border Patrol, LAX Airport, Port, Pensacola Naval Air, Saudi, ISIS, Office, Walmart, US Department of Justice, Associated Press, Capitol, Trump Locations: New America, Manhattan, Canada, America’s, Port Angeles , Washington, Saudi, al Qaeda, Yemen, Florida, Panama, Mexico, Queens , New York, El Paso , Texas, Washington

“The thing you’ve got to do primarily is set rules and enforce them,” said John S. Martin Jr., a former U.S. District Court judge in Manhattan. In Ms. Carroll’s defamation trial, Mr. Trump seemed almost to be goading Judge Kaplan into throwing him out of the courtroom. After his two recent confrontations with the judges, Mr. Trump held news conferences before cheering supporters in the lobby of his building at 40 Wall Street. Ms. Carroll’s defamation trial is being heard by a nine-person jury in Federal District Court, with Judge Kaplan overseeing the proceedings. During his diatribe, Mr. Trump refrained from attacking any staff members.

Persons: Arthur Engoron, Donald Trump, Donald J, Arthur F, Trump, Mr, ”, Jean Carroll, Judge Lewis A, Kaplan, Ms, you’ve, John S, Martin Jr, “, ” Mr, Carroll’s, Letitia James, Kaplan “, Alexi J . Rosenfeld, Trump’s, Engoron’s, Judge Kaplan, Carroll, Jefferson Siegel, The New York Times Judge Kaplan, Bill Clinton, Sam Bankman, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, Osama, Laden, Katherine B, Forrest, Judge Kaplan’s, Michael B, Mukasey, Justice Engoron, Art Garfunkel, —, James, Christopher M, Kise, Engoron, Kate Christobek, Olivia Bensimon, Kirsten Noyes Organizations: Trump, Getty, Court, The New York Times, Mr, New York Times Locations: New York, York, U.S, Manhattan, New Hampshire, Trump’s Manhattan

☆ Opinion: How did we get to this point in Yemen?
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-12 | by ( Peter Bergen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

(Not a great time to have had an initially incommunicado, and still-hospitalized, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who authorized the strikes in Yemen from his hospital bed on Thursday.) The Houthis, who were once a ragtag militia with the purely local aim of trying to overthrow the Yemen government, are now projecting Iranian power, not only in the Red Sea but across the region. In other words, just as Hezbollah in Lebanon, 1,500 miles to the north of Yemen, is effectively an arm of the Iranian government, so too now are the Houthis. Those weapons have also been used to attack oil facilities in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, the capital of the Saudi-allied United Arab Emirates, and, more recently, have targeted Israel as well. Yet, Saudi Arabia is a key reason that the Houthis are now so closely allied to Iran and so well armed.

Persons: Peter Bergen, Osama bin Laden, Joe Biden, Defense Lloyd Austin, Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, “, Biden Organizations: New, Arizona State University, Apple, Spotify, CNN, Defense, United Nations, United Locations: New America, Yemen, Israel, Red, Suez, Lebanon, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Saudi, Riyadh, Gaza, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Iranian

☆ Henry Kissinger was so old that he outlived one of his New York Times obituary writers
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Henry Kissinger died on Wednesday, aged 100. He outlived a New York Times journalist who helped with his obituary — the writer died in 2010. He lasted so long that he outlived one of The New York Times writers who contributed to his obituary. The Times described Kaufman in the byline as "a former correspondent and editor for The Times who died in 2010" — 13 years before Kissinger. David Kissinger wrote in an op-ed in The Washington Post in May that his "father's longevity is especially miraculous when one considers the health regimen he has followed throughout his adult life."

Persons: Henry Kissinger, —, Michael T, Kaufman, Kissinger, Kaufman's, Osama bin Laden, Kenneth Kaunda, Nixon, David Kissinger Organizations: New York Times, The Times, Service, The New York Times, Times, —, Ford, Washington Post, CBS News Locations: Zambia, Washington

☆ What the "Letter to America" backlash could mean for the first major "TikTok election"
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Jasmine Enberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Osama Bin Laden's 2002 "Letter to America" went viral, sparking discourse on TikTok's misinformation problem. 2024's "TikTok election" will have a major impact on how people consume political news. TikTok videos of American users sympathizing with the letter sparked shockwaves and a deluge of commentary that reverberated far beyond the 'For You' feed. But many of those posts contained the few dozen TikTok videos in question, and their rapid spread and the ensuing backlash emphasize the dilemma that TikTok faces ahead of what is already shaping up to be a contentious election year. A post on X containing #LettertoAmerica TikTok videos, for example, has racked up over 32 million views and was still up on the platform on Friday, even after TikTok had removed many videos from its own platform.

Persons: Osama Bin, —, TikTok, hashtag, hasn't, Gen, Biden, Meta's Organizations: Service, CNN, Republican, Intelligence, Pew Research Center, Facebook, TikTok Locations: America, Brookings, Facebook's

☆ Opinion: Bad behavior test isn’t just about George Santos
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-19 | by ( Michael Ryan | Richard Galant | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

What they do results from neurons firing in assorted regions of the brain, the product of an array of causes they can’t control. Every now and then someone bursts out crying — a member of his family has been killed, or his house destroyed. • Join us on Twitter and FacebookThere was no visible sign of progress on the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. Writing before the summit, Frida Ghitis noted, “Biden may want Xi to help bring down the temperature on the world’s ongoing wars and help prevent new ones from igniting. “Today’s miseries of flying derive from this choice to deregulate airlines and unleash them into the Hunger Games of ordinary incentives.

Persons: Robert M, Sapolsky, ”, Sen, Bernie Sanders, Douglas Heye, Tim Burchett, Kevin McCarthy, elbowing, McCarthy, Heye, Burchett, tortuously, Mike Johnson, Johnson, George Santos, “, ” Drew Sheneman, Julian Zelizer, Santos, ” “ Santos, Trump, ” Zelizer, John Avlon, Clay Jones, Nikki Haley’s, Nikki Haley's, Nikki Haley, Haley, she’d, Cupp, Hussein Ibish, ” “, Israel —, Abbas —, Fatma, Khan Younis, there’s, —, Jessica Rosenberg, Joe Biden, ” Biden, Rosenberg, “ Biden, “ Aviva Klompas, speechwriting, Laden, Osama bin Laden, Peter Bergen ,, bin, bin Laden, ’, Walt Handelsman, Joan Steinau Lester, Xi Dana Summers, Biden, Xi Jinping, Frida Ghitis, Xi, ” Peter Bergen, Juvenal, Stephen I, Vladeck, they’ll, Stephen Brobeck, ” Trump’s, Donald Trump, Dean Obeidallah, “ I’m, Barack Obama, Peter Bergen, Megan Fox, Mike Coppola, Megan Fox isn’t, Patricia Grisafi, Tupac Shakur, Billy Corgan, Alicia Keys, Mary Lambert, Florence Welch, Halsey, Lana del Rey, Bob Dylan, Grisafi, Ganesh Sitaraman, Sitaraman, ” Don’t, Fareed Zakaria, Jill Filipovic, Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift Judi Ketteler, Noah Berlatsky, Nicolas, Elizabeth Debicki, Diana, Daniel Escale, Holly Thomas, Princess Diana, irresistibly, ” Thomas, Prince Charles ’, Camilla Parker, Bowles, Mohamed Al, Dodi, Spencer, Diana cavorting Organizations: CNN, Teamsters, House Republican, “ Tennessee Republican, Democrats, George Santos of New, Content Agency Santos, Long Island Republicans, GOP, Guinness, World Records, Democrat, CNN Former UN, New Hampshire, Trump, Fox News, West Bank, Gulf States Institute, Fatah, Palestinian Authority, Palestine Liberation Organization, PLO, “ Aviva, United Nations, Guardian, Agency, Biden, San Francisco Wednesday, China, Twitter, Consumer Federation of America, Democratic, Fox, “, Hunger Games, Liberty ’, Netflix Locations: George Santos of, George Santos of New York, Las Vegas, Atlantic City, New, Israel, Gaza, Washington, Gaza City, Minneapolis, Iran, United States, America, al Qaeda, San, Ukraine, China, Mexico, Kansas City , Missouri, New Hampshire, Nazi Germany, Ohio, Al

TikTok executives have rushed to respond to what they view as an inaccurate and unfair narrative about its content. Photo: Alyssa Schukar for The Wall Street JournalTikTok is facing what it views as perhaps its biggest crisis yet, with the world’s most popular app facing an intense backlash over the perception it favors pro-Palestinian and, at times, antisemitic content. Citing anti-Israel posts that surfaced on TikTok since the Gaza conflict began and a decades-old Osama bin Laden letter that circulated this week, Washington lawmakers have renewed calls to ban the app in the U.S.

Persons: Alyssa Schukar, Osama Organizations: Wall Locations: Gaza, Washington, U.S

☆ Where the 9/11 Dead Are Not Forgotten at Guantánamo Bay
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( Carol Rosenberg | More About Carol Rosenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But pretrial proceedings for four men accused of conspiring in the plot are now in their second decade. For most hearings, the prosecutors bring about 10 people who were injured or lost family members in the attacks to watch the proceedings. Over the years, more than 150 of the people who were killed on Sept. 11 have been represented in the hearings by relatives. Some family members have come looking for answers about why the United States was so vulnerable then. Some come simply to represent a loved one who was killed in an attack that, for some Americans, has become as distant as the one at Pearl Harbor.

Persons: Osama Locations: U.S, United States, Pearl

☆ Sacha Baron Cohen told TikTok bosses that the platform was creating the 'biggest antisemitic movement since the Nazis'
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( Rebecca Rommen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Actor told TikTok bosses that the platform was creating the "biggest antisemitic movement since the Nazis." AdvertisementIn a recent video call between Jewish celebrities and TikTok executives, actor and campaigner Sacha Baron Cohen accused the popular video app of "creating the biggest antisemitic movement since the Nazis," reported The New York Times. The accusation comes amid growing concerns about TikTok's role in fostering an alleged surge of antisemitic abuse on its platform and wider social media. AdvertisementBaron Cohen told TikTok executives, "shame on you," for allegedly promoting hate through the content circulated on the app. Presser acknowledged the validity of Baron Cohen's concerns, admitting that social media companies, including TikTok, must combat hate content more.

Persons: TikTok, Baron Cohen, Hitler, —, Sacha Baron Cohen, Dustin Moskovitz, Elon Musk, Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Anne Frank, Amy Schumer, Grace, Debra Messing, Adam Presser, Seth Melnick, Presser, Baron Cohen's, Osama bin Laden's, Jamie McCarthy, Osama bin, hashtag, Nikki Haley, Osama Bin Organizations: Service, New York Times, IBM, Golden Globes, TikTok, Will, Carnegie Hall, Guardian Locations: New York City, China

In an appearance the same day on the “Guy Benson Show” on Fox News Radio, Ms. Haley blamed the app for sowing sympathies for Hamas on some college campuses and stoking anti-American views. In a statement posted on X, TikTok responded to Ms. Haley by saying that the circulation of bin Laden’s letter violated the platform’s rules that ban support for terrorism, and it was policing related content accordingly. Mr. Trump, her former boss, continues to be the overwhelming front-runner, but Ms. Haley, a former South Carolina governor, is trying to overtake Gov. At a town hall for her campaign in Iowa on Thursday, Ms. Haley continued to press on TikTok and brought up the letter by bin Laden. For them to be here,” Ms. Schroeder said after hearing from Ms. Haley.

Persons: Nikki Haley ratcheted, Osama bin Laden, Haley, Donald J, Trump, ”, Guy Benson, “, Laden, TikTok, Ms, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Ramaswamy, DeSantis, “ Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison, ” Ms, bin Laden, you’ve, ’ ”, “ That’s, Linda Schroeder, Schroeder Organizations: U.S, Republican, United Nations, Chinese Communist Party, Fox News Radio, World Trade Center, Pentagon, New York Times, Gov, TikTok, CNBC Locations: Israel, America, U.S, South Carolina, Florida, Miami, Iowa, Waverly, China, Russia, Iran, TikTok, Dubuque

☆ Spread of antisemitism online: Osama bin Laden letter goes viral on TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailSpread of antisemitism online: Osama bin Laden letter goes viral on TikTokSapna Maheshwari, The New York Times business reporter, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss videos on TikTok supporting a decades-old letter by Osama Bin Laden surging in popularity this week, how the algorithm on TikTok differs from other social media platforms, and more.

Persons: bin, Osama Bin Laden Organizations: The New York Times Locations: The

Social media’s antisemitism problemThe rise in antisemitism since the outbreak of war in the Middle East has ignited a clash between Wall Street donors and universities, and divided some workplaces. Now, the pressure is building on social media platforms, particularly Elon Musk’s X and TikTok, with advertisers, celebrities and influencers pulling spending and confronting executives about the proliferation of hate speech. He posted to X his support for white nationalist conspiracy theories that Jewish communities were spreading hatred. Yaccarino was brought in to win back advertisers after Musk bought Twitter last year and culled many content moderators. More than a dozen Jewish celebrities and creators, including the actors Sacha Baron Cohen, Debra Messing and Amy Schumer, confronted TikTok executives this week.

Persons: Elon Musk’s, Adolf Hitler, Musk, X’s, Linda Yaccarino, Yaccarino, “ Linda, ” Martin Sorrell, DealBook, TikTok, Sacha Baron Cohen, Debra Messing, Amy Schumer, “ Hitler, Anne Frank ”, Cohen, ”, Osama bin, bin Laden, —, Alex Haurek, George Santos, Biden, Xi Jinping, Doug McMillon, Walmart’s, “, ” Brian Cornell, ’ Organizations: IBM, Media, America, Nazi Party, Apple, Oracle, Defamation League, Twitter, S4 Capital, House, Big, General Motors, Hyundai, Republican, Justice Department, Business, APEC, West Texas Intermediate, Consumers, Depot, Walmart Locations: TikTok, New York, Hong Kong, China, San Francisco, Beijing, Washington, U.S

TikTok, accused of elevating pro-Palestinian content, blamed “unsound analysis” of hashtag data. Some Instagram and Facebook users circulated a petition accusing the platforms’ parent company, Meta, of censoring pro-Palestinian posts, which Meta attributed to a technical bug. Antisemitic content swarmed onto X, the platform formerly known as Twitter and run by the billionaire Elon Musk. The major tech companies have long offered some degree of access, but researchers said that now seems to be shrinking. TikTok has been accused of amplifying pro-Palestinian videos through its powerful algorithmic feed and of failing to address antisemitic content.

Persons: TikTok, Elon Musk, Linda Yaccarino, “ We’re, ”, Megan A, Brown, —, Sacha Baron Cohen, Debra Messing, Musk, Osama bin Laden, America ”, Isabelle Frances, Wright, Moustafa Ayad, Ms, Frances, Jamie Favazza, Meta, Sukrit Venkatagiri, standwithIsrael Organizations: Facebook, Tech, Meta, Twitter, University of Michigan, IBM, Institute for Strategic, Swarthmore College Locations: Israel, United States, U.S, Beijing

☆ Opinion: Osama bin Laden was a mass murderer, not a TikTok influencer
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Peter Bergen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

He is the author of “The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden.” The views expressed in this commentary are his own. Bin Laden’s al Qaeda affiliate in Iraq helped to trigger the Iraqi civil war in 2006, during which tens of thousands of Iraqis died. And this is only a partial list of the mayhem carried out by bin Laden and his followers. The “Letter to America” also decries the United States’ role in global warming, American tolerance for homosexuality and the drug culture that exists in the United States. It might behoove those posting on TikTok to understand some of this history before praising bin Laden’s purported brilliance.

Persons: Peter Bergen, Osama bin Laden, CNN —, bin Laden, ”, bin, Bin Laden’s, I’ve, “, Nelly Lahoud, ” Lahoud, Facebook Lahoud, “ Bin Laden Organizations: New, Arizona State University, Apple, Spotify, CNN, Guardian, Israel, Hamas, Saudi, Palestine, US Navy, Team, ISIS, US Army War College, Twitter, Facebook Locations: New America, America, al Qaeda, Africa, Qaeda, Iraq, Indonesia, Bali, London, United States, Palestine, Israel, Islam, Al Aqsa, Jerusalem, Al, Quds, Pakistan, Syria, Abbottabad, Vietnam

☆ Videos About Bin Laden’s Criticism of U.S. Surge in Popularity on TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Sapna Maheshwari | More About Sapna Maheshwari | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Videos on TikTok supporting a decades-old letter by Osama bin Laden criticizing the United States and its support of Israel surged in popularity this week, adding to accusations that the company is fueling the spread of antisemitic content. The letter, titled “Letter to America,” was published a year after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that were orchestrated by Bin Laden. He defended the attacks in New York and Washington and said Americans had become “servants” to Jews, who he said controlled the country’s economy and media. American taxpayers, he wrote, were complicit in harming Muslims in the Middle East, including destroying Palestinian homes. Some TikTok users said this week that they viewed the document as an awakening to America’s role in global affairs and expressed their disappointment in the United States.

Persons: Osama bin, ”, Bin Laden, bin, you’ve, Osama bin Laden’s, America ’, ’ Organizations: House, America Locations: United States, America, New York, Washington

CNN —Dozens of young Americans have posted videos on TikTok this week expressing sympathy with Osama bin Laden, the notorious terrorist who orchestrated the September 11 attacks, for a two-decade-old letter he wrote critiquing the United States, including its government and support of Israel. TikTok is hugely popular with young Americans, with a majority of Americans under 30 using the app at least once a week, according to a KFF survey. The attack was orchestrated by Bin Laden, the former leader of the al Qaeda terrorist group who was killed in a US special forces raid in 2011. “There’s no proof it was written by bin Laden and some of the things that he focuses on are inconsistent with his other writings,” he told CNN. New data from the Pew Research Center released Wednesday shows TikTok is rapidly becoming a place where more and more young Americans get their news.

Persons: Osama bin Laden, TikTok, Bin Laden, influencer, ”, al, Andrew Bates, “, ” Bates, ” Imran Ahmed, ” Ahmed, Peter Bergen, Bergen, bin Laden, Pew Organizations: CNN, Israel, Hamas, Center, CNN National Security, Guardian, Pew Research Center Locations: United States, Israel, New York City , Washington, Pennsylvania, America, New York, American, al Qaeda, Palestine, TikTok

TikTok app logo is seen in this illustration taken, August 22, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 16 (Reuters) - TikTok will prohibit content that promotes Osama bin Laden's 2002 letter detailing the former al Qaeda leader's justifications for attacks against Americans, the short-form video app said on Thursday. "Content promoting this letter clearly violates our rules on supporting any form of terrorism," TikTok said in a statement, adding that reports that it was "trending" on the platform were inaccurate. A search for "Letter to America" on TikTok surfaced no results on Thursday, with a notice that said the phrase may be associated with "content that violates our guidelines." On Wednesday, The Guardian removed the full text of bin Laden's letter, which it had published in 2002.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Osama bin, al, Laden, TikTok, Josh Gottheimer, Andrew Bates, Renee DiResta, Sheila Dang, David Shepardson, Rosalba O'Brien, David Gregorio Our Organizations: REUTERS, U.S, Democratic, Guardian, Stanford Internet Observatory, Thomson Locations: al Qaeda, Israel, United States, Pakistan, America, Austin, Washington

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