TikTok has joined other social media giants such as Facebook, Twitter and others to put in protocols in place so as to tackle the menace of fake or indeed misleading content which happens to be propagated on its platform.
Indeed the company has gone on to unveil that a new early warning system is going to be implemented, which will have the capabilities to warn users when they are about to share what is being termed as “unsubstantiated content.” These prompts will actually go on and make an appearance on the video content that TikTok’s partnering web-based fact-checking platforms in Politifact, Lead Stories, and SciVerfiy are unable to confirm. The company claims that this feature will in particular be useful during the unfolding of events before fact-checkers pronounce their final opinion on the content.
Whenever a user tried to re-share a video that happens to have unsubstantiated content, a grey caution will make an appearance at the very top of the screen. While the user will indeed be able to share the video, he would have been notified about being a potential broadcaster of misleading content. The company goes on to explain that the goal here is that you have to think twice before yielding yourself as an unverified content broadcaster before you take the action. The originator of the unverified video will also in fact get a warning from TikTok that if his content is flagged, videos will not actually be listed on the “For you” feed which of course happens to be TikTok’s landing page.
If you as a viewer attempt to share an already flagged video, you will be on the receiving end of a prompt which will remind you that the video has indeed been flagged as inappropriate content. This additional layer of caution is aimed at assisting you to consider deeply whether it is at the end of day worth sharing.
