TikTok , like any other societal media platform , isno stranger to harmful information and controversial contentedness . The company already has a fact - watch scheme in place to tackle phony news , medical , and election - related misinformation . Now , it is hoping that its residential area will add helpful context to content that may be deceptive or sensationalizing facts .
To that end , TikTok has todayannouncedFootnotes , a system that enables approve community of interests members to impound helpful information to a post for viewers . ten already has one such system in place called Community Notes , andMeta political program such as Instagram and Facebook also adopted it in 2025 .
The arch over idea is identical . “ Footnotes will draw on the collective noesis of the TikTok biotic community by earmark people to add together relevant information to contentedness on our platform , ” the company says in a insistence release .
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How will Footnotes work on TikTok?
TikTok will begin quiz Footnotes start with the US , and will start accepting contribution in the “ coming month . ” Anyone can apply to become a contributor , as long as they converge the undermentioned criteria :
All the footnotes will be written , reviewed , and rated by sanction contributors , and TikTok will follow a ranking - based organization to show the net version . For case , if a military post put forward a debate that could use helpful linguistic context , a balloting system is put in position , and only the footnotes that with the highest community blessing are finally tie to a post .
TikTok has higher chances of success
Unlike Meta , which has completely ended its fact - checking program in the US , TikTok is using footnotes merely as a reinforcement column . Community Notes are crucial because they bring helpful setting , something that is not necessarily the core role of fact - checker .
“ We also continue to partner with more than 20 IFCN - accredit fact - checking system to value the truth of content on TikTok in over 60 language and in 130 markets around the world , ” say TikTok .
Certified fact - checkers are already overwhelmed with identifying and getting harmful selective information take away from social medium . But there is still a lot of mental object on the entanglement that could lead astray people because it lacks right context , often paint a haywire or one - sided picture of certain event or personality .
Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends
biotic community notes , or footnotes , is not a charming heater to make social media a safer , more accurate place . In fact , research render that they mostly fail to check the cattle farm of harmful content for a multifariousness of cause .
“ It requires a ‘ cross - ideologic agreement on true statement , ’ and in an more and more partisan environment , achieving that consensus is almost impossible , ” saidPoynter Institute , which runs the International Fact - Checking connection ( IFCN ) .
TikTok , thankfully , is not swear solely on community of interests notes . As observe above , the company will go along its partnership with fact - draughts across the world to handle debatable mail which often face discplinary natural process such as reduced visibleness or takedown .
Meta
“ The pro can still quickly expose the most harmful and viral misinformation , while footnote contributors can add context to videos that do n’t run into that threshold,”arguesPoynter . It would be interesting to see whether the experimental feature article can serve benefit to its US - based consultation as the specter of a nationwide ban still hulk .
