TikTok rolls out prompts to assess accuracy and misinformation

Source: TikTok

The wildly popular social sharing platform, TikTok, has announced further action to help users identify accuracy and misinformation in the content they are viewing. TikTok has partnered with fact checkers to help them assess the accuracy of content. If fact checks confirm content to be false, TikTok will remove the video from their platform. Sometimes fact checks are inconclusive or content is not able to be confirmed, and in these cases a video may become ineligible for recommendation into anyone's For You feed to limit the spread of potentially misleading information.

Steps are put in place to further inform viewers when TikTok identifies a video with unsubstantiated content in an effort to reduce sharing. Here's how it works:

1. A viewer will see a banner on a video if the content has been reviewed but cannot be conclusively validated.
2. If a viewer attempts to share the flagged video, they’ll see a prompt reminding them that the video has been flagged as unverified content. This additional step requires a pause for people to consider their next move before they choose to "cancel" or "share anyway."
3. The video's creator will also be notified that their video was flagged as unsubstantiated content.

The feature is designed to help their users be mindful about what they share. In fact, when TikTok tested this approach, they saw viewers decrease the rate at which they shared videos by 24%, while likes on such unsubstantiated content also decreased by 7%.

This feature will be rolling out globally over the coming weeks, starting today in the US and in Canada. It was designed and tested with Irrational Labs, a behavioral science lab, and is a continuation of their ongoing work to advance media literacy, including the series of "Be Informed" educational videos they created in partnership with the National Association of Media Literacy Education. TikTok believes that media literacy is crucial to enhancing the online experience for everyone and are continuing to invest in product experiences that help promote an authentic and welcoming community.