Propaganda from the Islamic State has been circulating on TikTok, a popular video app many teenagers use.
Pro-ISIS propaganda was spotted on TikTok targeting the platform’s users, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
TikTok provides users with a stream of short video clips, most of which include lighthearted, comical bits featuring anyone from ordinary teens to famous actors, such as Will Smith.
ISIS, however, saw the platform as a recruitment hotbed and posted clips that included ISIS fighters carrying weapons.
Videos showed female ISIS supporters claiming to be “jihadist and proud.” Another video featured Arabic singing that translated to “we pledge allegiance ’til death.”
The propaganda posts came from two dozen accounts, some of which had as many as 1,000 followers. The videos included anthems promoting ISIS and appeared to target young women by using flowery icons and use of the phrase “jihad lover.”
One video showered pink hearts over a man as he honored Abu Hamza Al-Muhajer, an al Qaeda fighter killed in 2010.
“We will send a message to the whole world,” said the man. “If our first fighter is killed, the last fighter will handle it. You will see.” A similar video glamorizing an ISIS fighter captured 68 likes from users on the platform.
A spokesperson from TikTok said any account associated with the propaganda videos has been banned from the platform.
“This is an industry-wide challenge complicated by bad actors who actively seek to circumvent protective measures, but we have a team dedicated to aggressively protecting against malicious behavior on TikTok,” the spokesperson said.
Social media has been a common tool for ISIS to recruit supporters outside of the Middle East. Previously, ISIS utilized Twitter and Facebook to call for attacks in western cities, including New York City and London.
The propaganda posts on TikTok come as hundreds of ISIS prisoners escaped last week in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from northern Syria.
