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As President Joe Biden threw U.S. support behind Israel in its war with Hamas, a viral TikTok this week suggested that women could be drafted into the U.S. military.
Despite no announcement from the White House or Biden, the expletive-ridden video has been viewed millions of times in the past few days, rejecting plans allegedly being made to legislate for female conscription.
The Claim
A TikTok by user nationalmechanicsgroup, aka John Robinson, posted on October 13, 2023, and since viewed 5.9 million times, suggested that the U.S. was going to begin drafting women into the military.
A caption above the video stated "you are not drafting my daughter" alongside a description that read "our soldiers aren't going to be used for your problems#women #draft #war #israel #ucraine #palestine #biden #trump #military #navy #marines #airforce #airforce #army #fema #republican #democrat"
During the video, Robinson, said: "Let me get this right, you want to pass a law to draft my daughter to send to another one of your foreign f****** wars for something you created, so your arms manufacturers can make more money for your banker friends? Did I get that solid f****** right or what?"
The Facts
While the video does not make explicit reference to President Joe Biden, the criticism and language is positioned toward an alleged policy proposal.
Although the hashtags attached to the TikTok mention Trump and Biden, and "Democrat" and "Republican," the message appears intended for current U.S. leaders.
References to the IRS, FEMA, "foreign...wars," and shortfalls in U.S. military recruitment support the notion that this invective is targeting present leadership.
A draft is an act of selecting individuals for compulsory military service.
There is no evidence to suggest that the U.S. government is planning to draft women into the U.S. Army, nor is there any indication that a U.S. draft is forthcoming. More recent videos posted by John Robinson provided no other sources or evidence to support such a conclusion either.
As stated by the U.S. Selective Service program, which administers the conscription of citizens, only men can register to be called up for the draft.
The U.S. Department of Defense recently dismissed rumors of a draft that had been been based on the misreading of two military recruitment reports, the Associated Press found.
Newsweek has contacted a U.S. Department of Defense representative via email and John Robinson via an email provided via their TikTok for comment.
While Robinson did not cite sources, another TikTok discussing the possibility of a female draft, posted weeks ago, went viral ahead of Robinson's claims.
That video, posted by user inversenews, aka Timothy James, on September 19, 2023, with the caption "Women military draft LIKELY," has now been watched more than 4.3 million times.
At the start of the TikTok, James said: "Ladies 18-26, hope you're ready to get drafted. It is not just boys that will get drafted in World War 3."
The video goes on to mention several news stories about U.S. military recruitment shortfalls, as did the video by Robinson, and historical legislative proposals for female conscription.
Since it was posted in September, James' video has been "stitched" many times over, whereby other TikTok users can take a clip from another video to include as part of their own content. Several of these "stitched" clips have been viewed millions of times during the past few days.
However, James' claim about a "likely" female draft needs context.
James' TikTok quotes a story about proposals in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2022 that recommended women should be required to register for military draft. This proposal was removed from the final bill, reported the Congressional Research Service.
The video also mentions amendments to the following year's NDAA, which too included the proposal to enable female conscription. Again, the proposal was later removed from the final version of the bill, enacted by the president earlier this year.
Newsweek has contacted a White House representative via email for comment.
The Ruling
False.
There is no evidence that women will join the draft. The TikTok user that shared this claim presented it without sources.
The U.S. Department of Defense recently dismissed claims made elsewhere that it was planning a draft of U.S. men, let alone women who under current legislation cannot be conscripted.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team
About the writer
Tom Norton is Newsweek's Fact Check reporter, based in London. His focus is reporting on misinformation and misleading information in ... Read more