Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube … each and every one of the current platforms are looking for the best way to combat misinformation. TikTok is no exception and this is how you will fight fake news. Because it is important to prevent certain topics and ideas from going beyond what they should.
What does that new TikTok window mean when sharing content
During the last months we have seen that social networks such as Twitter, Facebook or Instagram have been fighting against fake news in different ways. On the one hand, with teams of people who are in charge of verifying the veracity of what is told and labeling them based on their conclusions. On the other hand, by means of a series of indications so that the user himself thinks before whether or not he should share what he has seen.
This last method is the one that Twitter has popularized to some extent in recent months and it seems that now it will be TikTok who is betting on something very similar within its video platform.
Thus, when you now go to share content from other users, there will be the possibility that you will see a new floating window where you will see the following message :
Are you sure to share this video? The video has been tagged as unverified
Next to that notice you will have two buttons with two opposite options: cancel the share action or do it in the same way even if you are not entirely sure if it is true or not.
Why let the user verify the content
TikTok’s new option to combat fake news seems that it could leave the decision of whether a content is true or false to the user, but it is not exactly like that. TikTok continues to analyze and verify certain content, but there are times and topics where doing this with total precision is not possible.
Therefore, the most appropriate solution is this one that TikTok presents and that we had previously seen on Twitter. With this warning, what the platform is doing is that the user himself decides if it is a good or bad idea to share that video that he has just seen. An intermediate step for an action that if it is convinced to carry out it will continue to carry out; But if not, it may make you think twice and end up not doing it.
Unverified content on TikTok
The new function against unverified content and that could be a false news or directly be it will have some differences with respect to what happens on other platforms.
The first and most striking is that the author of the content will be notified when a video of his is marked as unverified. We understand that this will be done with the idea of making it clear to everyone, even those who create fake news without being aware of it, that there is a problem.
The second is that the content tagged as unverified will have a lower diffusion by not appearing in the For you section of TikTok of other users of the social network.
When will it be available
This TikTok anti-fake news feature is now available in the United States and Canada. In the coming weeks, it is expected to officially reach the rest of the countries where the platform operates. So it will be a matter of time before you start seeing certain messages when you use the app and want to share content. Although being honest, I hope you don’t see many. Because that would be an indicator that little content is really promoting misinformation.
