According to Saudi media, there is a campaign to boycott TikTok in the Kingdom, which first started in late October.
The “Boycott TikTok” hashtag began trending in Saudi Arabia after social media users noticed that their accounts were either being suspended or pro-Saudi content being removed.
The participants in the campaign claim that TikTok is adopting a policy that includes racism against Saudi content.
They are also accusing the app for supporting parties hostile to Saudi Arabia and allowing the publication of offensive content to the Kingdom, and deleting content that supports it.
An account named ‘The Saudi Deterrent’ posted that the app suspended a Palestinian account that was reviewing Saudi aid to Palestine, and called for boycotting TikTok as a national duty.
Emirati artist Ahlam announced her boycott in solidarity with Saudi Arabia in addition to several other celebrities.
The campaign also prompted the official account of the TikTok application in the Middle East to publish a statement on the platform ‘X’.
نحن في تيك توك نعتز بمجتمعنا في المملكة العربية السعودية الذي يعد مصدر إلهام للإبداع في مختلف المجالات. اقرأ بياننا الرسمي بشأن الادعاءات الأخيرة وكيف نقوم بدعم مجتمعنا باستمرار. https://t.co/bQRAMqKzU6
— TikTok MENA (@TikTokMENA) November 8, 2023
A translation of the post says:
“We at TikTok are proud of our community in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is a source of inspiration for creativity in various fields.
“We strongly reject these allegations because they contradict our policy and values and spread a misleading image of TikTok’s content management policies. Which are committed to a set of community guidelines that include rules and standards for using the platform.”
