If we can’t deny the horrific efficiency of its algorithm that allows us to spend hours in front of a screen, or the significant increase in video quality in recent years, we must admit that. TikTok has a long list of flaws in size. The application, which sometimes stands out for its use of personal data and sometimes for its silly and dangerous challenges, is far from unanimous among Internet users.
Newsguard’s new study may not improve its public image. The Chinese social network proudly features fake news, according to the company, which is adamant against misinformation. Second, there is indeed a lot more available on TikTok than its competitors: according to the organization, it’s almost one of five videos sharing misinformation.
Always verify your information received from TikTok
To achieve this result, Newsguard searched for various news within the app, from the war in Ukraine to Covid vaccines. This method was not chosen at random, as young people are using it more and more. TikTok as a real search engineis gradually replacing Google. For example, regarding health, Newsguard cites the case of an influencer who highlighted chloroquine to treat all their ailments, while its effectiveness against Covid has never been proven.
“TikTok toxicity is now a significant danger because Google research shows that TikTok is increasingly being used to find information for young people (…)”It alarmed NewsGuard, stating that the topics that young people are looking for are very frequent. controversial onlineLike the American elections. TikTok replied on its behalf: “The rules clearly state that we do not allow harmful misinformation, including medical misinformation, and we remove content that falls within that information from the platform.”
Source : News Keeper
