Communications of the ACM
TikTok Search Results Riddled with Misinformation
TikTok, the second most popular domain in the world, said in a statement that its community guidelines prohibit harmful misinformation and that it works to promote authoritative content about important topics like COVID-19.
Credit: TikTok
Researchers at false online claims reports monitor NewsGuard said searches on prominent news topics on TikTok are likely to produce results rife with misinformation.
The researchers said they found misinformation in nearly 20% of videos suggested by the platform, which for NewsGuard's Steven Brill is particularly worrisome, given TikTok's popularity among the young.
Brill questioned whether China-based TikTok owner ByteDance is taking sufficient action to stop misinformation, or whether it deliberately permits its propagation to spread confusion in Western democracies.
A statement from TikTok insists its community guidelines ban harmful misinformation, yet researchers found TikTok's own search tool appears engineered to direct users to misinformation in some cases.
From ABC News
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