TikTok hires ‘proud American Jew’ to tackle antisemitism on platform
Appointment of Erica Mindel comes amid growing concerns over online Jew-hate
Social media juggernaut TikTok has hired a “proud American Jew” as its hate speech manager with a special focus on antisemitism.
Erica Mindel joined the platform in July in the full time, New York City based role, with an estimated salary of £280k per year.
The hire comes as the Chinese-owned company faces mounting pressure from US lawmakers for failing to address a spike in antisemitic and anti-Israel content in the wake of the October 7 Hamas terror attacks and amid the ensuing war in Gaza.
As per the job description, Mindel’s role will include developing and driving the company’s positions on hate speech, “ensuring alignment with global regulations, industry standards, and best practices”, spearhead long-term policy strategies that position the company as an industry leader in combating online hate speech and analysing hate speech trends, focusing on antisemitic content.
Jewish Insider reports that former IDF reservist Mindel’s job was created after a “high-level convening” the Anti-Defamation League “helped organise last year,” according to its national director of antisemitism policy, Dan Granot, who said the position was raised as “a key recommendation for all social media platforms” during the meeting.
After graduating from university, Mindel made aliyah and joined the IDF, where she spent two and a half years as an instructor in the Armoured Corps.
Mindel’s previous role, from 2022 to 2025, was as a contractor for the US State Department during the Biden administration. She worked for Deborah Lipstadt, the special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism.
In June, President Donald Trump extended a deadline to 17 September for TikTok’s China-based owner ByteDance to divest its US assets in the social media app with 170 million users in the US, or be banned.
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