As part of its new state media policy, TikTok has stated that it will begin labeling videos from “certain” state-controlled media outlets. Due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the corporation is “expediting” its plans to pilot the policy, according to a company press article. According to the company, it began working on the policy last year. According to the message, users should expect the labels to emerge within the following few days.
The labels will be placed to at least some Russian state media accounts, according to a TikTok spokeswoman who did not identify which ones or how many.
Similar labels have existed on many social media platforms for some time – YouTube adopted them in 2018, and Twitter and Facebook began using them in 2020.
Many platforms have moved against content from Russian state-controlled media outlets like RT and Sputnik in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — Reddit has banned links to the outlets, Facebook and YouTube have blocked their content in Europe, and a slew of other companies have made their stories more difficult to access in various ways.
In response, the Russian government has stated that Facebook will be blocked within its borders, citing “discrimination against Russian media and information resources.” TikTok was also asked by the country’s communications ministry why specific stories from a state news agency were removed.
