Episode 234: TikTok, Gen Z's Move to Social Media and Elite Panic Over Unsanctioned News
“How TikTok grew from a fun app for teens into a potential national security threat,” warns the Associated Press. “How TikTok Brings War Home to Your Child,” cautions The Wall Street Journal. “Hillary Clinton Blames TikTok for Misinformation Influencing Young People’s Views on Israel and Palestine,” announces the Hollywood Reporter.
When a source or outlet of information isn’t gate-kept or mediated in the same ways as legacy media—say, a public gathering place or a social media platform—there is a predictable reaction of elite panic. Lawmakers, and invariably the corporate media that parrots them, fear that the unwashed masses are spreading or receiving “bad” information, “propaganda,” and “disinformation,” which all too often just means information that doesn’t align with elite interests.
It’s true that social venues and platforms—whose content is largely unmoderated—are susceptible to misinformation; this happens all the time. But how often are policymakers’ concerns about “misinformation” actually in the public’s best interest? Or about any objective, non ideological fidelity to agreed upon facts? How can these ostensible warnings function as cover for rightwing censorship regimes and elite-serving narratives under the guise of “preventing CCP propaganda" or “conspiracy theories”? And what is lost when elites attempt to seize, and replace, media they deem politically unsavory?
On this episode, we discuss what happens when our political and media elites deem an alternative media source or outlet too subversive, examine how to distinguish between genuine disinformation and that which is simply politically inconvenient, and look at the centuries-long history of efforts to restrict the flow of information when the rabble have too much access to it.
Our guest is San Francisco State University assistant professor Omar Zahzah.
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Guest
Omar Zahzah (@dromarzahzah) is a writer, journalist and Assistant Professor of Arab, Muslim, Ethnicities and Diaspora Studies in the Department of Race and Resistance Studies at San Francisco State University. Omar’s writing on Palestine has appeared in outlets such as The Electronic Intifada, Mondoweiss, Al Jazeera, Middle East Eye, The Nation, and the New York Times. His book, Terms of Servitude: Zionism, Silicon Valley, and Digital/Settler Colonialism in the Palestinian Liberation Struggle, was published in 2025 by Censored Press.
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Show Notes
Omar Zahzah | July 1, 2025 | Mondoweiss
TikTok takes down Gaza journalist Bisan Owda’s account mere days after US deal
Sharon Zhang | January 30, 2026 | The Real News Network
TikTok censorship claims spark California probe of app's handling of anti-Trump content
Kevin Collier and Bruna Horvath | January 26, 2026 | NBC News
Carly Thomas | December 2, 2025 | The Hollywood Reporter
Former Obama aide Sarah Hurwitz ignites social media with remarks about Holocaust education
Andrew Silow-Carroll | November 28, 2025 | The Times of Israel
Do the lessons of the Holocaust apply to Israel and “skinny Palestinians”?
Michael F. Brown | November 26, 2025 | The Electronic Intifada
TikTok posts on Israel-Gaza war are overwhelmingly pro-Palestinian
Naomi Nix | October 7, 2025 | The Washington Post
Updating our Israel/Gaza analysis 2 Years On
Elizabeth Radway and Laura Edelson | October 2025 | Cybersecurity for Democracy
Palestine was the problem with TikTok
Sarah Joeng | August 19, 2025 | The Verge
A Brief History of America’s Campaign Against Dissident Newsmaking
Aaron Boehmer | March 26, 2025 | Literary Hub
The CIA Book Club by Charlie English review – ‘It was like fresh air’
John Simpson | March 14, 2025 | The Guardian
The Death Throes of Free Speech in the United Kingdom
Matthew Omolesky | December 25, 2024 | The American Spectator
These Billionaires Subsidize the Israeli Military Through a US Nonprofit
Derek Seidman | December 2, 2024 | Truthout
Why Big Tech’s control of social media cannot stop anti-colonial resistance
Omar Zahzah | July 7, 2024 | Mondoweiss
Refusing the Language of Silence
Omar Zahzah | July 3, 2024 | Savage Minds
Digital apartheid: Palestinians being silenced on social media
Omar Zahzah | May 13, 2021 | Al Jazeera
Cyrus Moulton | May 10, 2024 | Northeastern Global News
Lawmakers Renew Calls to Ban TikTok After Accusations of Anti-Israel Content
Cecilia Kang and Sapna Maheshwari | November 8, 2023 | The New York Times
Beware the Anti-Defamation League’s Efforts to Partner with Progressive Orgs
Sarah Lazare and Adam Johnson | July 21, 2020 | In These Times
Everyone Wants to Stop ‘Fake News,’ but No One Seems to Know What Exactly It Is
Adam Johnson | December 9, 2016 | The Nation
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Transcript
For a full transcript of this episode, go here. You can also find transcripts of past episodes, live shows, Beg-a-Thons, Interviews and News Briefs here.
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Credits
Senior Producer: Florence Barrau-Adams
Producer: Julianne Tveten
Production Assistant: Trendel Lightburn
Newsletter: Marco Cartolano
Music: Grandaddy
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