TikTok is once again at the forefront of the battle against fake news, but absolutely NOT in a good way.
In this photo illustration, the social media application logo, TikTok is displayed on the screen of an iPhone on April 13, 2020, in Arlington, Virginia.
According to a report by the BBC, the massively popular social media platform is fast becoming a hub of fake videos pertaining to the crisis in Ukraine. This is according to a recent investigation by the misinformation watchdog NewsGuard, who took a closer look at the platform's ocean of dubious content.
Their analysis found out that within only 40 minutes of joining TikTok, a new user will be bombarded by fake videos of the Ukraine conflict. These videos come in different categories, from fake livestreams, audio tracks, and even footage of video games masquerading as actual videos of the fighting.
Livestreams are proving to be the most popular of these categories in terms of viewership. And that's because TikTok has historically allowed even fake livestreams on its platform with little to no consequences, causing these videos to rack up views.
All In The Name Of Money
As per the original NewsGuard analysis, these livestreams are perhaps being created by people in the hopes of earning money via TikTok's donation system. Anyone can find a video of an old war or even a military drill, overlay some fake audio of gunfire or explosions, then share it on a livestream.
Since the platform boasts billions of users (who may or may not be interested in watching conventional news sources), there's a good chance that enough people will tune into the fake livestream. The creator of the stream will notice this and subsequently ask the viewers to donate to their channel.
A teenager presents a smartphone with the logo of Chinese social network Tik Tok, on January 21, 2021 in Nantes, western France.
Not to mention, there remains the proliferation of video game clips from games such as "Call of Duty" being shared as "actual" footage of the fighting, particularly referring to the capital city of Kyiv where the conflict is at its most brutal.
TikTok hasn't released an official statement with regards to the BBC and NewsGuard reports. It also hasn't provided any transparency or analytics tools to fact-checking researchers and journalists - something that the platform has been somehow avoiding unlike its other peers in the social media space.
TikTok's Penchant For Sharing Fake Info On Ukraine Conflict
Believe it or not, this isn't even the first time that TikTok has been implicated in the increasing prevalence of misinformation, especially concerning the Ukraine crisis.
Back in March, NewsGuard was again the one to spot the platform's inadequacy in combating the spread of fake news on its platform. According to a report by Fortune, even generic keywords like "Ukraine" or "Donbas" are enough to make the algorithm display fake videos in its top 20 results.
NewsGuard says that this is proof that TikTok is lacking in good content moderation practices. It is also pointing to how the platform has designed its app to push users to content that will keep them there, which has led to the social media app being a "fertile ground for the spread of disinformation."
A person uses a smartphone at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the world's biggest mobile fair, on February 26, 2018 in Barcelona. - The Mobile World Congress is held in Barcelona from February 26 to March 1.
Fortunately, there are several folks who are trying their hardest to fight this. In another BBC report, the spotlight was shone on 20-year-old Ukrainian Marta Vasyuta, who's been sharing real videos of the crisis. But it would certainly take more people like her to take the fight to fake news.
Related Article: 100K Fake Accounts Controlled by Five Robot Farms Destroyed for Spreading Panic in Ukraine
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Written by RJ Pierce
