TikTok promises to ramp up fight against disinformation in EU

TikTok said in the past six months it removed 191 adverts that breached its ban on political actors placing advertising on its platform. (AFP/File)

• TikTok plead to expand its state-controlled media labels, fact-checking program, scale up volume of claims

BRUSSELS: Chinese social media company TikTok on Thursday pledged to do more to tackle disinformation on its platform by adding more safety features and broadening its fact-checking measures, spurred by the role played by state-controlled media and the war in Ukraine.
Presenting its progress report on what it did to live up to a beefed-up EU code of practice on disinformation in the past six months, the company acknowledged the need to step up its efforts.
“While we’re proud to be providing this level of granular detail for the first time, we recognize that there is more work to be done. In the coming months, we’re investing in a number of initiatives,” Caroline Greer, director of public policy and government relations, said in a blogpost.
TikTok would expand its state-controlled media labels, ramp up action against disinformation linked to Ukraine, expand its fact-checking program across Europe to include more language coverage, and scale up the volume of claims it fact-checked, she said.
The company would also strengthen its approach to disinformation in its advertising policies.
TikTok said in the past six months it removed 191 adverts that breached its ban on political actors placing advertising on its platform, and connected people to authoritative sources of information on COVID-19, the Holocaust, the war in Ukraine and other topics.