New York University (NYU) professor Scott Galloway explained on “Morning Joe” Tuesday how he believes China is spreading pro-Hamas sentiment on college campuses.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators have recently occupied tents on university campuses, including Columbia University and New York University (NYU), leading to clashes between New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers and protesters. Galloway told MSNBC that he believes young Americans are being “manipulated” by content on TikTok, a popular social media platform with Chinese roots.
“What may sound paranoid to others is that [unintelligible]I think we, especially young people, are being manipulated through the world of TikTok, especially through the frame of youth,” Galloway said. “If you look at TikTok, for every video distributed in Israel, there are 52 pro-Hamas, pro-Palestinian videos. I think we’re being manipulated. Rather than accept that Americans have been fooled. But if I were the Chinese Communist Party, I would do exactly the same thing. I think social media is sowing division and polarization in our society.”
New York University professor Scott Galloway criticized China for anti-Israel protests on college campuses on “Morning Joe.”
“If you look at TikTok, for every video distributed in Israel, there are 52 pro-Hamas and pro-Palestinian videos.” pic.twitter.com/oJh1Ocd9Ij
— Julianna Freeman (@JuliannaFrieman) April 23, 2024
TikTok has been in the spotlight recently after the House of Representatives passed a bill in March that would force Chinese company ByteDance to sell TikTok in order to continue operating the app in the United States. senate The state voted Tuesday in favor of a foreign aid package that includes provisions that could lead to a ban on TikTok and is expected to be signed into law soon by President Joe Biden.
Mr Galloway said the reasons why university students were spreading pro-Hamas sentiment were “complex”. He said young people tend to distance themselves from what older people believe, adding that students were “conflating” the conflict in Gaza with the civil rights movement. (Related article: ‘Shocking!’: Holocaust survivor tells Fox host that anti-Semitic protests are ‘scary’)
“I think it’s complicated,” Galloway said. “One, I think people have a healthy gag reflex for what people our age are thinking. And I think that’s a healthy thing. Second, I don’t think Israel has been able to rest on its laurels over the last 20 or 30 years. They’ve become like David to Goliath.”
“Also, students on campus confuse the civil rights movement with what is happening in Palestine, and unfortunately, because of the orthodoxy that my colleagues and I have promoted, that there is an oppressor and an oppressor. And I think the easiest way to identify oppressors is how white they are and how wealthy they are,” he continued. “Fairly or unfairly, Israel is seen as the bastion of whiteness and its wealth.”
Columbia University canceled in-person classes on Monday; announced All classes on the main campus will be held remotely for the remainder of the semester.
