LONDON: In one corner of the internet, tucked between flashy dance challenges and viral recipes, a young TikTok user stops scrolling to watch a gang member preach hate.
The idea that TikTok, like any major social platform, hosts violent and hateful content may not be new. But the message this boy sees is different: it glorifies power, dominance and the ability to act with impunity.
A new study says this is no isolated case. TikTok is increasingly being used by organized crime networks in Palestinian society inside Israel to promote violence, build criminal identities and recruit young people, with the platform’s algorithms helping to amplify such content.
The report, released late in July by 7amleh, the Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media, warns that criminal groups are exploiting TikTok not only to share violent footage but also to market their services, display power and influence, and expand their reach online.
Titled “Algorithms of Violence,” the study says these practices contribute to the normalization of criminal behavior and strengthen its presence in the digital space.
Speaking to Arab News, report author Afnan Kana’ana said the research does not claim TikTok is the sole cause of radicalization or polarization among young people, but rather “one of several contributing factors.”
He added: “It may become influential when combined with other structural and social conditions, including TikTok’s predominantly young user base, the platform’s recommendation algorithms, family disintegration, social marginalization, poverty, political repression and weak law enforcement.”
Taken together, he said, these factors “can increase some young people’s vulnerability to criminal involvement while making them more susceptible to the narratives and violent content circulated on the platform.”
The 62-page study used a mixed-method approach, combining interviews with criminologists and digital media specialists, a focus group with youth workers and an AI-powered model developed by 7amleh to analyze videos, images and text for violence-related content.
It found that criminal organizations use TikTok for purposes that go beyond sharing violent footage, including promoting criminal identity, showcasing weapons, money and luxury vehicles, issuing threats and recruiting new members.
Of 1,083 posts analyzed, 101 — or 9.3 percent — were linked to recruitment or offers of criminal services, including car theft, hiring assassins and counterfeiting money.
The study also found direct or coded calls to recruit young people to carry out operations, such as driving cars during shootings, smuggling or car thefts. These so-called “raptor drivers” can earn between 1,500 ($500) and 5,000 Israeli shekels per operation.
Kana’ana said the findings show that the criminal presence on TikTok both reflects and may reinforce crime in Palestinian society inside Israel.
“Criminal organizations use the platform to normalize and legitimize criminal behavior, and portray it in a positive light, which can reshape some users’ perceptions of crime, increase its social acceptability, reduce sensitivity to violence, and, in some cases, foster sympathy and identification with perpetrators rather than victims,” he said.
The study comes as social media platforms worldwide face mounting scrutiny over their role in amplifying violence through engagement-driven algorithms that spread violent imagery, facilitate cyberbullying, enable rapid radicalization and help turn online disputes into offline physical altercations.
Multiple studies say feeds prioritize emotionally charged, high-engagement content, routinely pushing fights, weapon displays and aggressive behavior to broad audiences.
A 2024 report by the Youth Endowment Fund found that 70 percent of teenagers reported encountering real-world violence on social media at least once in the previous year, with almost two-thirds of teenagers who have perpetrated violence saying social media played a role, often by escalating conflicts that began online.
TikTok was the platform where violent content was most frequently observed, followed by X, Facebook and Snapchat.
Israeli-Arab demonstrators chant slogans and hold pictures of victims of violence during a protest organised by a left leaning NGO, Standing Together, in response to a sharp rise in murders within Israel’s Arab society, demanding that the government present a solution to curb the violence in Turan on January 8, 2026. (AFP/File)
In the Middle East, courts have increasingly grappled with how online activity translates into offline harm.
In early 2025, two Algerian influencers were tried in France on charges of inciting violence through TikTok videos, with prosecutors alleging they urged followers to carry out attacks in France and Algeria.
7amleh’s data indicated that 28.8 percent of posts — 312 out of 1,038 — were related to building criminal identity, prestige and reputation. These posts received more than 29 million views, 671,000 likes, 9,800 comments, 84,000 shares and 58,000 downloads.
Kana’ana said these numbers cannot be understood in isolation from the status of Palestinians in Israel, which he described as marked by structural racism, exclusion and discrimination at the legal and economic levels.
The study cites figures from the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel, which concluded that “if the Arab community were a state, it would be third after Colombia and Mexico in the crime rate on the OECD scale,” while murders in Palestinian society in Israel account for more than 80 percent of all murders, even though Palestinians make up about 20 percent of the population.
“Criminal organizations actively monitor posts made by rival groups or individual users and have, at times, responded with acts of violence after perceiving insults or public provocations on the platform,” Kana’ana said.
“From this perspective, the risk lies not only in exposure to such content, but also in its potential to normalize violence, increase tolerance of criminal behavior, and create an environment that is more conducive to recruiting and influencing vulnerable young people.”
He said that while TikTok could take steps such as establishing a local content review team of Palestinian specialists or limiting algorithmic recommendations of violent content, especially for teens, the phenomenon requires a broader response.
“This perspective provides a stronger foundation for more informed and evidence-based dialogue, both within Palestinian society and across communities,” he said.
Ultimately, Kana’ana said, policymakers, civil society groups, human rights organizations, digital platforms and researchers must “work together on addressing the structural drivers of crime and violence, rather than reinforcing prejudice and hostility toward an entire community.”
