TikTok is following Twitter in labeling content posted by state-controlled media accounts.
“In response to the war in Ukraine,” the company says, “we’re expediting the rollout of our state media policy to bring viewers context to evaluate the content they consume on our platform. We’ll begin piloting our policy by applying labels to content from some state-controlled media accounts over the coming days.”
So it seems these labels will be applied to content from Russia and Ukraine state-controlled media. Whether other state media (such as those in TikTok’s home country of China) will receive similar treatment remains to be seen. TikTok says it doesn’t plan to share more details about these efforts until a “broader policy roll out later this year.”
The company does say it started work on its state media policy last year, however, and that it’s “engaged over 50 experts from multi-disciplinary backgrounds across 20 countries” to decide what should be considered state-controlled media. It also plans to solicit feedback from these experts as it starts to roll out these content labels.
The announcement comes just a few days after Twitter said it would use similar labels for tweets containing links to websites managed by Russia’s state media. Both companies have said these content labels are part of their broader efforts to prevent their platforms from being used to spread propaganda and misinformation.
TikTok says:
We’ve also evolved our methods in real-time to identify and combat harmful content, such as implementing additional measures to help detect and take action on livestreams that may broadcast unoriginal or misleading content. We remain focused on preventing, detecting, and deterring influence operations on our platform and our systems help us identify, block, and remove inauthentic accounts, engagement, or other associated activities on TikTok.
The company also says it’s demonstrating its “continued dedication to assisting those most vulnerable in emergencies” by making a $1 million donation to an unidentified organization.
