Social media platform TikTok has begun implementing its updated community guidelines, which include prohibiting videos with climate change misinformation. The new policy, which was announced last month, aims to prevent content that “undermines well-established scientific consensus” regarding the climate crisis from appearing on the app. While TikTok will still allow videos discussing climate change, it will start deleting any content that goes against scientific consensus. Users searching for climate information will be directed to “authoritative information” vetted by TikTok and the United Nations.
The move comes after a report by NewsGuard in 2022 found that TikTok contained false information about climate change and other topics. The report also revealed that during the pandemic, searching for COVID-19 videos on the app produced suggestions for content that included misinformation about vaccines. Misinformation was particularly prevalent during the US presidential election season, prompting TikTok to remove over 300,000 election-related videos and 50,000 videos sharing false information about COVID-19.
In addition to the climate change policy, TikTok has added new rules concerning AI technology that creates content. Digitally manipulated or created media must now come with the appropriate tag, such as “fake” or “altered.” These measures are part of TikTok’s efforts to reduce the spread of false information on its platform.
