The update moves the app into line with Pinterest and Twitter in outlawing climate change denial, as social media platforms look to do their part to maximize awareness and action, where possible.
TikTok has taken measures to deal with climate change misinformation on the platform. The company has now outlawed all content that denies climate change and the impacts it has on the global community.
With this, TikTok has now joined other apps like Pinterest and Twitter in outlawing climate chance denial. Social media companies in recent years have been doing a lot to enlighten the people on the impact of climate change.
“On April 21, we will begin to ramp up enforcement of a new climate change misinformation policy which removes climate change misinformation that undermines well-established scientific consensus, such as content denying the existence of climate change or the factors that contribute to it. As we do for all misinformation policies, we will work with independent fact-checking partners when applying this policy to help assess the accuracy of content.”
Apps these days play vital roles in the dissemination of information, and it goes without a say that TikTok wants to put things right.
A couple of weeks ago, UK’s data watchdog fined TikTok $15.8 million for its failure to protect the privacy of children. According to an investigation carried out by Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), TikTok used the data of children of this age without parental consent. The investigation revealed that the Chinese app allowed up to1.4 million UK children under the age of 13 to make use of its platform in 2020.
According to the ICO, many children were able to access the site despite TikTok setting 13 as the minimum age to create an account. This of course exposed them to vulnerabilities, and inappropriate content.
Information commissioner John Edwards said per the BBC: “There are laws in place to make sure our children are as safe in the digital world as they are in the physical world. TikTok did not abide by those laws.
“As a consequence, an estimated one million under-13s were inappropriately granted access to the platform, with TikTok collecting and using their personal data.
“TikTok should have known better. TikTok should have done better. Our £12.7m fine reflects the serious impact their failures may have had.”
The commissioner later told the BBC that TikTok had “taken no steps” to obtain parental consent.
