The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on members of Congress to publicly criticize the expected takeover of TikTok by anti-Palestinian billionaires and call on the new owners protect free speech for all on the platform.
According to public reports, the U.S. and Chinese governments may announce a deal as soon as this week in which TikTok’s majority share ownership is transferred from Chinese company ByteDance to a consortium of U.S.-based investors. The new owners of TikTok will reportedly include anti-Palestinian billionaires Larry Ellison, Board Chair of Oracle; Lachlan Murdoch, CEO of Fox Corporation; and Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Technologies.
These billionaires or their institutions have clear records of enabling the Israeli government’s brutal policies of occupation, apartheid and genocide of Palestinians. By purchasing TikTok, they can silence Americans who have used social media to oppose Israel’s genocide in Gaza and criticize U.S. military funding for Israel.
In a letter sent to some 1,200 congressional chiefs of staff and tech policy staff, CAIR wrote in part:
“The transfer of ownership of TikTok from Chinese company ByteDance to Western owners means that TikTok will move from being a company under the influence of a Chinese government that is committing genocide against Uyghurs to being controlled by U.S. investors who want to silence TikTok users’ opposition to Israel’s genocide in Gaza.”
READ CAIR’S LETTER TO THE U.S. CONGRESS.
In a statement, CAIR Strategic Campaign Director Sunjeev Bery said:
“Congress should condemn the takeover of TikTok by anti-Palestinian billionaires and demand that the new owners respect the free speech of users. Billionaires Larry Ellison, Lachlan Murdoch, and Michael Dell each have a clear record of anti-Palestinian bigotry and support for Israeli crimes against humanity. If these anti-Palestinian billionaires are allowed to control the TikTok algorithm, they can silence the many Americans who have used TikTok to oppose Israel’s genocide of Palestinians.”
CAIR is urging members of Congress to:
- Condemn the takeover of TikTok by anti-Palestinian billionaires.
- Demand that the new owners protect free speech for all.
The anti-Palestinian record of TikTok’s likely new owners is clear: Larry Ellison, Oracle’s board chair, is both a major donor to the Israeli military and a close confidant of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Lachlan and Rupert Murdoch’s record of anti-Palestinian propaganda and news distortion via Fox News is well-documented. Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Technology, is a strong advocate for the Israeli government, and his company, Dell Technologies, has provided millions of dollars in support to the Israeli military. And Netanyahu himself has described the sale of TikTok as “the most important purchase happening … I hope it goes through because it can be consequential.”
In April of 2024, the U.S. Congress and former President Joseph Biden paved the way for this anti-Palestinian billionaire takeover of TikTok by passing a law that forced the sale of TikTok by its Chinese owner ByteDance, under the threat of an outright ban. On Sunday, October 26th, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed that the U.S. and China have finalized the details of a deal transferring a majority ownership share of TikTok to new owners. And on Monday, President Trump stated that he could sign a final TikTok deal as soon as Thursday of this week.
END
CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com