A recent new study from a misinformation monitoring organization found that it doesn’t take even an hour for new users on TikTok to begin stumbling across unreliable content and misinformation regarding the current war in Ukraine. According to this month’s newsletter from NewsGuard, dummy TikTok accounts made by the group easily ran into “false and misleading” content about Russia’s deadly, ongoing invasion efforts within 40 minutes of first browsing the platform. Even more disconcerting — this occurred regardless of whether or not someone ran any searches on the app.
Even searching for generic keywords like “Ukraine” and “Donbas” pulled up disinformation within a user’s top 20 results. “NewsGuard’s findings add to the body of evidence that TikTok’s lack of effective content labeling and moderation, coupled with its skill at pushing users to content that keeps them on the app, have made the platform fertile ground for the spread of disinformation,” they explained. While NewsGuard’s findings aren’t exactly surprising, they provide a valuable look at how millions of people can easily become unwitting victims of propaganda and slanted content just by virtue of using the app itself.
