A TikTok account celebrating the December 15 Bondi terror attack, and claiming to recruit for Islamic State, was active for at least one month until the platform deleted it, the ABC reports.
It wasn’t until the ABC questioned TikTok last week that it removed and banned the account, and a number of other profiles promoting Islamic State and violent ideology.
The ABC
‘Sydney don’t know what’s next’
When alerted to the first account, a TikTok spokesperson responded: “The account in question has been permanently banned for breaching our strict community guidelines.”
The platform did not answer further questions posed by the ABC.
On December 16, the account posted and then deleted a violent video game recording, captioned: “Sydney doesn’t know what’s next.”
The ABC further reports that the week following the shooting, the account posted about Islamic State, with an image of a blood-splattered gun and the caption “Recruiting. Msg me for more info.”
The account was active in its attempts to connect on social media, as it followed and was followed by non-Islamic State accounts based in Sydney. It also followed accounts that supported the terror group Hamas.
“Even if you do get deleted, you can start with a new username.”
Speaking to the ABC, Deakin University terrorism expert Greg Barton said it is common for extremist groups to use social media to attract and groom recruits.
“It shouldn’t be the case in 2026 that Facebook, X or Instagram could be so flagrantly used like this,” Professor Barton said.
“The way that some of these extreme groups work in open spaces is reliant on a needle in the haystack method – even if you do get deleted, you can start with a new username.”