Barak Herscowitz on TikTok’s Anti-Israel Bias, the Memo That Got Leaked, Resigning From TikTok, and the Story Israel Needs to be Telling


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Jul 31 2024 55 mins   12

On this episode of Invested, Michael hosts Barak Herscowitz, formerly advisor to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, political campaigner and strategic advisor, entrepreneur, and a former employee of TikTok.


Herscowitz became the “Tiktok Jewish Whistleblower” as he resigned due to what he identified as a severe bias against Israel and Jewish organizations, in favor of external influences serving Hamas and other foreign entities. He exposed a network of employees in sensitive roles within the company who supported terrorists, advocated for positions endorsed by Iran, and held extreme anti-Israel stances.


Prior to TikTok he was the campaign manager for former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and the director of press relations and public relations for the Israeli government during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also served as the spokesperson for then-Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat.


Barak is currently in a mission to raise awareness to the public opinion war fought against democratic nations and the Jewish people on social media, campuses and other arenas. He is about to go on a tour with his lecture "If Bin Laden had Twitter: The War the West is Losing Miserably" that discusses his experience as a whistleblower but also a much wider global issue.


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KEY TOPICS


  • [00:00:00] Intro

  • [00:01:46] Liberty as a Core Value

  • [00:04:00] True Meaning of Freedom and Liberty

  • [00:09:30] From Naftali Bennet’s Office to TikTok

  • [00:15:07] Why Barak Quit TikTok After October 7th

  • [00:18:28] Government Censorship and Content Blocking

  • [00:23:35] TikTok’s Terrorist Support Group

  • [00:27:42] Writing the Internal Memo

  • [00:37:30] The Backlash and Resignation

  • [00:40:30] Fight Against Social Media Bias

  • [00:44:15] Winning the Narrative War

  • [00:48:40] Biggest Mistakes


RESOURCES

Follow Barak on X: https://x.com/barakher

Follow Barak on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barakhers/

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For the transcript of this episode, go to: https://content.aleph.vc/podcast-episodes/barak-herscowitz---episode-26

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CREDITS

Executive Producer: Erica Marom

Producer: Sofi Levak

Video and Editing: Ron Baranov

Music and Art: Uri Ar

Design: Rony Karadi