Popular video-sharing platform TikTok has introduced a new feature that will fight the spread of misinformation on its platform.
The new update will introduce a warning display on videos that may contain uncertain information that could not be verified by the apps fact-checkers. It will start to warn users when resharing the videos in question.
“We're taking that a step further to inform viewers when we identify a video with unsubstantiated content in an effort to reduce sharing,” TikTok said in a blog post.
The warning display that will pop-up on a users phone when sharing the video will read ‘Caution: Video Flagged for unverified content.’ Users can still share the video in question if they wish to do so, however, the video will not appear in TikTok’s ‘For You’ page. TikTok will also notify the person who originally created or posted the video that their material was flagged as unsubstantiated content.
TikTok said they have designed the new feature to help users to be mindful of what is being shared. The company further explained that the feature was doing so well that early results showed the distribution of unsubstantiated content was reducing.
“When we tested this approach we saw viewers decrease the rate at which they shared videos by 24%, while likes on such unsubstantiated content also decreased by 7%,” the company added.
TikTok has partnered with numerous fact-checking organisations to help them assess the accuracy of the content, and if fact checks confirm the content to be false the video will be removed from the platform.
The company said the global rollout of the new feature will be available in the coming weeks.
IOL TECH