TikTok in wartime

Hi, it’s Margi in San Francisco. TikTok is spreading both truth and fiction about the conflict in Israel. But first...Three things you need [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Hi, it’s Margi in San Francisco. TikTok is spreading both truth and fiction about the conflict in Israel. But first... Three things you need to know today: • Cyberattacks targeting Israel [are on the rise]( • Global PC shipments [fell 9%]( • Unity Software’s [CEO will exit]( View from the ground TikTok became the world’s window into the conflict in Israel over the weekend — a stark departure from the choreographed dances, animal videos and celebrity lip-synching content that hooked more than a billion people on the platform. Clips from a music festival in southern Israel, where 260 attendees were killed and more taken hostage according to [Israel rescue agency Zaka](, broke through the algorithm’s regularly scheduled lighthearted programming. Users commented with emojis under videos showing the first flashes in the sky at dawn as young people danced. Despite the app’s early mission: “to inspire creativity and bring joy,” there’s no question now that TikTok will play a huge role in disseminating serious and often harrowing moments that transfix the world. Studies show that members of Generation Z are [more likely]( to turn to TikTok than Google as a source of news. And with changes to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, TikTok’s ability to serve shocking and culturally relevant images gives it an edge. “Right now there is no one central place people are going to get information in times like this in the same way they might have gone to Twitter in the past,” says [Katie Harbath](bbg://people/profile/15085425), former director of public policy at Facebook and senior tech advisor at the International Republican Institute, a nonprofit that promotes democracy globally. “It will be interesting to see if people do coalesce around a platform like TikTok — even if they don’t want to be known as a news source — and how TikTok does handle this content overall.” Noam Schwartz is the co-founder and chief executive officer of ActiveFence Ltd., an Israeli company which builds technology for trust and safety teams in big tech platforms. Many of his employees have family or friends who were directly impacted by the weekend’s violence. Some of Schwartz’s friends were well acquainted with footage on the ground — they were first to see the videos now being broadcast on screens around the world because they were being shared by accounts they followed. Or worse – they were on the receiving end of video calls. For the most part, Schwartz thinks TikTok has played a positive role in the conflict. “People would not believe the magnitude of this event without it being amplified in social media,” he said. “Think about young people going to Coachella, being tied up and shot at. It sounds like someone made it up, as if it were a movie. And if the videos weren’t showing these kids, people wouldn’t believe it was happening either.” Yet the flurry of unchecked videos on TikTok also provides a prime opportunity for propagandists and online clout-chasers to seize on the confusion. One video purporting to show Hamas parachuting into crowds was actually first posted on the app on Sept. 27 from a festival in Egypt. That didn’t stop the video being remixed 18 times in the past 24 hours, and the original garnering almost 200,000 likes and thousands of comments. TikTok did place a label on the video, but it wasn’t quite the warning viewers needed. “The actions in this video are performed by professionals,” read the caption. “Do not attempt.” Then there was another viral clip showing hundreds of concertgoers sprinting toward the exit captioned “festival attendees running for their lives” and “#prayforisrael” which turned out to be footage of the excitable fans as the gates opened at a Bruno Mars concert, [according]( to Reuters. Schwartz, an Israeli living in Manhattan, says members of his workforce are currently being drafted, and that he’s mostly grateful for the openness of information afforded by social media. But he also believes it will be a challenge for online platforms to differentiate propaganda from reality. “It will be very risky to go down the route of removing accounts that are amplifying content that I don’t agree with, as terrible as it is.” —[Margi Murphy](mailto:mmurphy500@bloomberg.net) The big story Shmuel Chafets, the Tel Aviv-based co-founder and chairman of the venture capital firm Target Global, said he [volunteered with the Israeli military]( after attacks from Hamas killed hundreds over the weekend. “It’s my duty and all of our duty to come and protect our country,” he said. One to watch [Watch Ashlee Vance take a tour]( of the rocket scene in Los Angeles on Hello World. Get fully charged Venture funding to crypto startups dropped 63% in the [run-up to the FTX trial](. Huawei appealed Spanish government rules that might prevent the Chinese equipment maker from [qualifying for state aid](. The largest venture capital firm based in Latin America is sitting on $1 billion as it [awaits a market recovery](. India demanded e-scooter makers return $60 million in aid for [using Chinese parts](. More from Bloomberg Live event: The Bloomberg Technology Summit in London will host top technology leaders, business executives, innovators and entrepreneurs on Oct. 24. The event will explore the rapid advance of AI, green technology, the escalation of cyber warfare and more. [Register here](. Get Bloomberg Tech weeklies in your inbox: - [Cyber Bulletin]( for coverage of the shadow world of hackers and cyber-espionage - [Game On]( for reporting on the video game business - [Power On]( for Apple scoops, consumer tech news and more - [Screentime]( for a front-row seat to the collision of Hollywood and Silicon Valley - [Soundbite]( for reporting on podcasting, the music industry and audio trends - [Q&AI]( for answers to all your questions about AI Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? 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