TikTok is cracking down on fake news about climate change.
TikTok has been in the news a lot lately, and not really for good reason. ByteDance, the company that created the application, is accused of violating the confidentiality of user information, and of manipulating the “virality” of certain publications with an algorithm that cannot be more opaque. The social network is big danger of being literally banned banned in the US and Europe. The leaders of the company must restore its image and show all their good faith. A month ago, the platform changed its rules to ban any video spreading false information about climate change. This change takes effect today.
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From now on, on TikTok, all videos spreading false information or which go “against the current of well-established scientific consensus” will be deleted and/or banned from the platform. Members of the community will still be free to post videos about climate change, and will be able to discuss them, but smarties who try to circumvent this ban are unlikely to become viral sensations. All research on this crucial topic direct users to “authoritative information”. Conspiracy theories will therefore be drowned out by the algorithm.
TikTok deletes videos spreading false information about climate change
Will this measure be enough to restore a well-worn trust in TikTok? It will certainly take a lot more to convince the European and American authorities of the harmlessness of the Chinese platform. The United States has shown its distrust of the social network for a few years now, and in France, the Senate has opened an investigation to assess the dangers of the company’s all-powerful algorithm, which would have the power to make anyone addicted. user.
Obviously, climate change is not the only subject to agitate conspiratorial spheres on social networks. Moreover, according to this NewsGuard study published in September 2022, TikTok is a powerful propagator of disinformation, whatever the theme.
