TikTok has hired a former Israeli soldier as its global hate speech manager, with a special focus on antisemitism, amid growing U.S. pressure on the Chinese-owned platform to clamp down on anti-Israel content.
Erica Mindel, who describes herself as a “proud American Jew,” was appointed in July to the New York-based role, with a reported annual salary of around £280,000.
The hire comes as TikTok faces mounting scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers and pro-Israel advocacy groups for allegedly allowing a surge in “antisemitic” and anti-Israel content since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks and the subsequent Israeli war on Gaza.
According to the job listing, Mindel’s responsibilities include formulating and implementing TikTok’s hate speech policies in line with global regulations and industry norms, as well as “spearheading long-term policy strategies that position the company as an industry leader” in combating online hate. She will also lead efforts to analyse trends in online hate speech with a particular focus on antisemitism.
Mindel’s role was created following a high-level meeting reportedly organised with assistance from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Dan Granot, the ADL’s national director of antisemitism policy, told Insider that the post was one of the “key recommendations for all social media platforms” raised during the meeting.
After completing her university studies in the U.S., Mindel moved to Israel and joined the Israeli military, serving for two and a half years in the IDF’s Armoured Corps as a training instructor.
Prior to joining TikTok, she worked as a contractor for the U.S. State Department under the Biden administration from 2022 to 2025, where she served under Deborah Lipstadt, the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism.
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U.S. pressure on TikTok
Mindel’s appointment comes at a time when TikTok’s future in the U.S. is uncertain. In June, President Donald Trump extended a deadline to September 17 for TikTok’s parent company ByteDance to divest its U.S. assets or face a nationwide ban. The app has more than 170 million users in the country.
Following the events of October 7, Israel and pro-Israel groups have ramped up lobbying efforts to pressure social media platforms, including TikTok, Instagram and X to remove content critical of Israel or sympathetic to Palestinians.
Israeli officials, including Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, have held direct talks with U.S. tech executives and politicians, arguing that TikTok fuels “antisemitic radicalisation” among younger users.
U.S. lawmakers many of whom receive substantial campaign donations from pro-Israel lobbying groups, have echoed these concerns in congressional hearings.
Bipartisan bills targeting TikTok cite not only national security concerns over Chinese data practices, but also the platform’s role in amplifying pro-Palestinian narratives.
However, civil liberty groups warn that such measures amount to politically motivated censorship that disproportionately silences Muslim and pro-Palestinian voices.
