Everyone is mad at this necklace ad on TikTok, but they’re looking at it wrong

If you’ve scrolled through your TikTok For You Page in the last 24 hours, you might have been hit with something shocking. Users are mass-reporting ads for what looks undeniably like a swastika necklace. The outrage is loud, immediate, and completely understandable.

But if you look closer at the listing, the story gets complicated.

I’ve been tracking reports from X and Reddit where users are rightfully asking why a hate symbol is being pushed by the algorithm. Threads on r/TikTok and r/mildlyinfuriating are full of screenshots showing a silver, geometric pendant that instantly triggers alarm bells.

All these posts on different platforms likely have TikTok’s moderation team scrambling right now. But here is the thing that the outrage is missing. The symbol in the viral ad is likely not the Nazi Hakenkreuz.

Based on the product images we’ve reviewed, the pendant features a left-facing swastika sitting flat on its axis. Historically, the Nazi symbol is almost exclusively right-facing and rotated 45 degrees on its point.

The distinction is critical. The left-facing symbol, also referred to as the Manji in Japanese, has been a sacred icon in Buddhism and Hinduism for centuries. It represents prosperity and good luck. This difference was also highlighted in the r/Buddhism subreddit 5 years ago.

In fact, one of the screenshots circulating on Reddit explicitly includes the word “Buddhist” in the product title. It describes the item as a “New Style And Exquisite Buddhist Amulet.”

So why is this happening?

It’s likely a collision of bad algorithmic tagging and a lack of cultural context. TikTok Shop is often flooded with dropshipped items from Asian markets where the Swastika symbol is a common, non-offensive sight. Sellers upload their inventory, and automated translation tools likely grab keywords like “swastika” without understanding the western connotation.

The algorithm then pushes “bold” and “hiphop” accessories to users who have shown interest in jewelry. It doesn’t know the difference between a hate group and a temple. It just sees engagement.

This isn’t to say TikTok has a clean record. WIRED has previously reported on the platform’s struggle with actual white supremacist content slipping through the cracks. Congress has even grilled executives on their moderation failures.

But in this specific case, I suspect we are looking at a machine failure rather than malice. The AI sees a shape. It connects that shape to a buyer. It ignores the history book. For the average scroller, the nuance doesn’t matter. Seeing that shape between a dance trend and a cooking video is jarring. It feels like a violation of the platform’s safety promise.

I expect TikTok will nuke these listings regardless of their intent, at least for users in the West. If you see it on your feed, you aren’t wrong to be shocked. Just know that the algorithm is likely just being dumb, not evil.

We stand out from the tech-media crowd because we break news stories; we mainly bring you stuff that you won’t find anywhere in the mainstream tech media. Our stories have been picked up by some of the world’s most popular websites and media outlets—more info is available here.