Nearly 20% of videos appearing in TikTok search results include content with misinformation, according to a report by NewsGuard.
NewsGuard looked into 540 TikToks for the study and discovered 105 of them had “false or misleading claims.”
In the research, the team conducted searches for terms like “covid vaccination,” which would return results like “covid vaccine injury” and “covid vaccine exposed,” while looking up “climate change,” would yield results like “climate change doesn’t exist.”
Meanwhile, when one searches for these terms on Google, the suggestions are clearer, with choices for the “covid vaccination” search including “walk-in” and “which vaccine is best.”
Prabhakar Raghavan , a senior vice president at Google, acknowledged that consumers are now using TikTok rather than Google while conducting online searches.
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Raghavan said, “In our studies, something like almost 40% of young people, when they’re looking for a place to lunch, they don’t go to Google Maps or Search, they go to TikTok or Instagram.”
The report further revealed that teens and young adults make up the majority of TikTok’s user base.
A TikTok spokeswoman responded to questions about the findings, claiming that the app’s community guidelines “make clear that we do not accept harmful material, including misinformation, and we will remove it from the platform.”
On subjects like public health, the business is allegedly working with ” credible voices to elevate authoritative content.”
TikTok features videos on a variety of subjects, from lighthearted ones like DIY projects, cuisine, fashion, and dance trends to more serious ones like the COVID-19 vaccination, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, school shootings, and abortion.
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Jaw de Guzman is the content producer for Comms Room, a knowledge platform and website aimed at assisting the communications industry and its professionals.
