TikTok’s way of dealing with fake news
New accounts are shown misinformation regarding the Ukraine within 40 minutes of using the app.
It is no secret that fake news on social media is a serious problem. And while TikTok is the largest emerging social media platform, the question of how they handle misinformation — if at all — seems to be rarely asked.
Maybe because the answer is obvious: They don’t. Not only does TikTok avoid any effort in fighting fake news, they actively promote false information.
Here’s why the way TikTok deals with fake news is alarming;
For instance, NewsGuard [1] revealed that new accounts are shown misinformation regarding the Ukraine within 40 minutes of using the app.
According to Forbes [2], the platform played an essential role in spreading the pizzagate conspiracy theory in summer 2021. Interestingly, the people who spread these theories on TikTok often don’t fit into the usual profile. For them, it is less about political motivation and more about “edgy” humour. That is exactly what makes fake news on social media so dangerous.
When conspiracy theories are made-up, spread and altered under the mask of humour, two things happen:
- Some people will take the problems that these theories pose less seriously
- And, even more dangerously, some people will believe them.
NewsGuard writes:
“Toward the end of the 45–minute experiment, analysts’ feeds were almost exclusively populated with both accurate and false content related to the war in Ukraine — with no distinction made between disinformation and reliable sources.”
The algorithm serves this type of content because it seems to be what people engage with. Since it sells, influencers spread rumours ad-lib just to get a few minutes under the limelight, thus creating an environment in which lies and deception are ubiquitous.
TikTok has 1 billion users [3]. With this number, it only takes a small percentage of people to actually believe fake news for it to have a noticeable impact on our society.
This culture in which fake news gets played down, combined with an algorithm that deliberately blurs the line between truth and falsehood, is what’s alarming about TikTok.
Sources: