TikTok pulls Israeli ultranationalist’s account for breach of hate speech rules

The Guardian · 🇬🇧 public United Kingdom · Apr 02, 2026 · 808 words · By Lorenzo Tondo; Quique Kierszenbaum

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What to know about TikTok pulls Israeli ultranationalist’s account for breach of hate speech rules

TikTok has removed an account belonging to an ultranationalist, pro-settlement Israeli influencer for breaching hate speech and bullying rules after the Guardian flagged videos showing him harassing activists in the occupied West Bank.

Claims checked 14

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left14%

Center72%

Right14%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

The Guardian has reviewed dozens of videos posted by various social media figures that have gone viral on TikTok and Instagram documenting the harassment of Palestinians as well as physical attacks on Israeli and international activists.

Common ground

The accounts began to proliferate after the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, since when Israeli forces and settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: TikTok pulls Israeli ultranationalist’s account for breach of hate speech rules?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that The Guardian has reviewed dozens of videos posted by various social media figures that have gone viral on TikTok and Instagram documenting the harassment of Palestinians as well as physical attacks on Israeli and international activists?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/02/tiktok-israeli-ultranationalist-ac…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 14 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

help Insufficient Evidence 7

schedule Pending 4

verified Verified By Reference 3

verified

Claim 1: “The Guardian has reviewed dozens of videos posted by various social media figures that have gone viral on TikTok and Instagram documenting the harassment of Palestinians as well as physical attacks on Israeli and international activists.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it verified by reference based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A major outbreak of violence in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, sometimes called the Unity Intifada, mainly commenced on 10 May 2021 and continued until a ceasefire came into effect on 21 May. It wa…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Israel–Palestine_crisis

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Palestinians (Arabic: الفلسطينيون, romanized: al-Filasṭīniyyūn) are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. They represent a highly homogeneous community who share a c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinians

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Guardian is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as The Manchester Guardian and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, The …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guardian

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Claim 2: “The activists also filmed the encounter. 'This is Judea, not fucking Palestine,' Star yells in a clip posted by one such activist, Andrey Khrzhanovskiy. In Khrzhanovskiy’s video, Star is heard threatening activists and their families with continued harassment.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it insufficient evidence based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 3: “TikTok has removed an account belonging to an ultranationalist, pro-settlement Israeli influencer for breaching hate speech and bullying rules after the Guardian flagged videos showing him harassing activists in the occupied West Bank.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it verified by reference based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — There are reports of TikTok and its Chinese counterpart Douyin censoring political content related to China and other countries, as well as content from minority creators. TikTok has stated that its e…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_by_TikTok

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Libs of TikTok is the username of various American anti-LGBTQ and far-right social-media accounts operated by Chaya Raichik ( KHAH-yə RY-chik), a former real estate agent. Raichik uses the accounts to…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libs_of_TikTok

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — TikTok, known in mainland China, Macau, and Hong Kong as Douyin (Chinese: 抖音; pinyin: Dǒuyīn; lit. 'Shaking Sound'), is a social media and short-form online video platform. It hosts user-submitted vid…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TikTok

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Claim 4: “TikTok said it had taken down Star’s account 'for breaking our rules on hate speech and bullying'.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it insufficient evidence based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 5: “National security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir drew condemnation after he posted footage to X in which he was seen taunting the Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti in jail.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 6: “Zvi Sukkot, of the far-right Religious Zionist party, was filmed in the occupied West Bank denying settler violence.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 7: “In a video he posted to TikTok and Instagram in January, he films himself entering a house being used as a base by leftwing activists in Ras Ein al-Auja, in the Jordan valley, and pepper-spraying an activist who tries to prevent him for gaining access.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it insufficient evidence based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 8: “TikTok said it had also removed videos from 'other TikTok creators linked to Israeli far-right agitators', without identifying either the content or the creators.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it insufficient evidence based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 9: “TikTok said this week it had removed an account belonging to the far-right social media personality Roi Star after it was flagged by the Guardian.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it insufficient evidence based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 10: “Meta has not replied to a request for comment on Instagram's handling of far-right agitators' accounts.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 11: “Khrzhanovskiy said: 'This is not the first ethnic cleansing in history, but this is the first ethnic cleansing that you can watch live on TikTok.'”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 12: “The burgeoning far-right ecosphere has risen in tandem with the growing influence of far-right parties and figures in Israeli politics.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it insufficient evidence based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 13: “Israeli forces and settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it insufficient evidence based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 14: “The accounts began to proliferate after the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, since when Israeli forces and settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it verified by reference based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The short-form video-hosting service TikTok was under a de jure nationwide ban in the United States from January 19, 2025, until January 22, 2026, due to the US government's concerns over potential us…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efforts_to_ban_TikTok_in_the_U…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On 7 October 2023, a large escalation of the Gaza–Israel conflict began with a coordinated offensive by multiple Palestinian militant groups, led by Hamas, against Israel. A number of countries, inclu…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_reactions_to_the…

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info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.