November 17, 2023 | NBC News

Social media platforms breathe new life into the legacy of Osama bin Laden

ISD’s Head of Technology and Society, Isabelle Frances-Wright, features on NBC Nightly News speaking on Osama bin Laden’s “Letter to America” and its 48-hour rise to TikTok popularity. Isabelle explains how social media platforms failed to respond on time to prevent the spread of designated terrorist content on their platforms.

“Something can go viral as we have said, incredibly quickly, and if a fact check is coming through 24 hours after a piece of content has gone viral and already received hundreds of millions of views, at that point it’s very hard to put the genie back in the bottle so to speak,” she said.

NBC Nightly News also spotlighted the findings from Isabelle’s recent investigation, co-authored with our Executive Director to AMEA, Moustafa Ayad, analysing the rise in references to bin Laden and his “Letter to America” across TikTok, X, Instagram, YouTube and Telegram.

The full interview is available on our YouTube channel.

Our investigation was also referenced by NBC News, the New York Times, USA Today and VICE.