Why Are TikTokers Sharing Osama bin Laden's 'Letter To America'? The Controversy And Trend Explained

A bizarre TikTok trend in which people encourage each other to read Osama bin Laden's 2002 "Letter to America" has kicked up a storm of controversy across the internet, with some criticizing The Guardian for deleting the text from its website after heightened traffic, and others accusing TikTok of festering dangerous anti-American rhetoric.

Over the last few days, internet users began noting renewed interest in the two-decade-old letter, with many new readers expressing surprise at how much they agree with bin Laden's analysis of America's foreign policy and its detrimental effects on the Middle East.

In case you're unfamiliar with this ongoing contention or looking for additional context, here's a recap of how the controversy unfolded online.

What Is Osama bin Laden's 'Letter To America,' And Why Is It Going Viral On TikTok?

In November 2002, Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden shared a letter titled, "Letter To The American People." The text was originally written in Arabic and was subsequently translated into English in Britain, after which it was hosted on various news sites including The Observer and The Guardian.

It's also worth including the original context of the letter when it was initially shared over 20 years ago. According to the Observer in an article published in late November 2002, Osama bin Laden's 4,000-word letter was described as a "call to arms" that circulated among British Islamic extremists, called for violence toward civilians and described the "Islamic nation" as "eager for martyrdom."

Upon being originally translated, it was noted that the letter was "the most comprehensive explanation of bin Laden's ideology to be issued for several years" and comprised a "lengthy list of grievances against the West."

Over two decades later in November 2023, several TikTokers began sharing their thoughts on the letter, noting its analysis of American imperialism and its effects on the Middle East, as well as the opinions it expressed on the influence of Zionist thought on American politics.

TikTokers such as @kianaleroux and @cannablissful posted videos saying that the letter "changed their life," and made them see America's relationship to the 2023 conflict in Gaza differently, among other sentiments.

According to 404media, "TikTok users are expressing shock that they don’t entirely disagree with some of what Bin Laden’s letter said, namely that he is at war with the United States because the United States attacked the Muslim world first, that Jewish people have no claim to Israel, and that Israel has occupied Palestine for decades “overflowing with oppression, tyranny, crimes, killing, expulsion, destruction, and devastation."

In a recent interview with the Washington Post, Charlie Winter (a specialist in jihadist affairs and director of research at the intelligence platform ExTrac) addressed the reports of TikTok users' dissemination of the letter and said that he was "really quite surprised at the response" to it, describing it as "core doctrinal text" for both al-Qaeda and the Islamic State terrorist group.

"[The letter contains] blatant language that is clearly calling for acts of genocide, clearly calling for or justifying indiscriminate acts of violence against civilians, clear justifications for killing noncombatants in any nation that is democratic and is fighting against a Muslim-majority state," Winter said. "It’s not the letter that is going viral. It’s a selective reading of parts of the letter that’s going viral. And I don’t know whether it’s because people aren’t actually reading it or, when they’re reading it, they’re reading the bits that they want to see or, you know, the bits that they want to see are sinking in."

How Did The Internet React To TikTokers Spreading Osama bin Laden's Letter?

Many TikTokers redirected followers to the letter hosted on the U.K. news site The Guardian. However, the newspaper removed the letter from its website after over 20 years of hosting it, instead showing text that read:

This page previously displayed a document containing, in translation, the full text of Osama bin Laden’s “letter to the American people”, which was reported on in the Observer on Sunday 24 November 2002.^[17] The document, which was published here on the same day, was removed on 15 November 2023.

The transcript published on our website had been widely shared on social media without the full context. Therefore we decided to take it down and direct readers instead to the news article that originally contextualised it.

Criticism of the ongoing discussions about bin Laden's letter primarily took place on X (formerly Twitter) with X user @yashar making a post compiling some TikToks and discussing the trend on November 15th.

Over the past 24 hours, thousands of TikToks (at least) have been posted where people share how they just read Bin Laden’s infamous "Letter to America," in which he explained why he attacked the United States.

The TikToks are from people of all ages, races, ethnicities, and… pic.twitter.com/EwjiGtFEE3

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) November 16, 2023

While some X users, like @EllaTravelsLove, saw TikTok discussions of bin Laden's letter as inherently antisemitic, other users like author Malcolm Harris expressed surprise at the blurring lines between, "America is losing credibility at home and abroad" and "the political theory of Osama Bin Laden is resonating with a diverse swath of America's youth."

Why Is TikTok Removing These Videos From Its Platform?

Earlier today after multiple news outlets covered the controversy and numerous users across the web engaged in heated debates about the trend, the official TikTok Policy X account posted a statement addressing it and noted that promoting the letter violated its rules on supporting terrorism. Additionally, the account said that it would be "proactively and aggressively removing this content and investigating how it got onto our platform."

For the full history of Osama bin Laden's Letter To America TikTok Trend, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.