Credit: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg
TikTok has announced a clamp-down on anti-vax misinformation spreading across its app and firmed up community guidelines, just hours after the Government set out strict new regulation to govern social media firms.
The viral video app said it would start rolling out new features over the next week, including those to help stop false claims about the vaccine profilerating over TikTok.
It said it hoped this move would ensure it was a "responsible partner as we enter the next phase of the pandemic".
The new features include directing those searching for vaccine information on TikTok to respected experts on the topic such as the World Health Organisation, and introducing a new ‘vaccine’ tag which would detect and flag all videos discussing the vaccine. This would allow TikTok to place a banner on each of these to redirect users to the authoratitive sources.
Kevin Morgan, the head of product and processes for TikTok in Europe, said: "As Covid-19 vaccines are developed and approved, we’re furthering our efforts to support the wellbeing of our community by making authoritative information about vaccines readily available.
"At the same time, we continue to remove misinformation about the coronavirus and vaccinations."
The UK became the first country to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine last week, quickly followed by Canada and the US.
Since then, the NHS has started rolling out the vaccine among the most vulnerable people, although experts have voiced concerns over the expected uptake of the vaccines if misinformation is allowed to spread.
A report from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine last month suggested that only 54pc of people said they would definitely be vaccinated — falling to 47pc after they were shown online misinformation around the vaccine, such as claims it could change a person’s DNA.
The new features come amid increasing pressure for social media firms to clamp down on such claims, with tech companies last month pledging that they would have a "timely response" to any falsehoods being spread on their sites.
However, research compiled for ITV found that, as recently at last week, anti-vaccination accounts across social media sites had accumulated 5.35 million UK followers.
This week, the Government laid out plans for its stricter regulation for tech firms, including allowing Ofcom to fine companies up to 10pc of their annual global revenue or £18m, whichever was higher, if they failed to quell concerns over harmful content being shared on their apps. This could cover false vaccine claims.
Those companies which failed to protect children could be blocked.
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Hours after the announcement, TikTok set out its additional plans to protect those posting on its app, bolstering community guidelines.
It said it would be introducing clearer information on what behaviour would not be tolerated. Things such as "doxxing", where users share personal and identifying information about a user online, and cyberstalking would now be explicitly banned.
The app also added new guidelines to prevent users "normalising or glorifying dangerous weight loss behaviours", and would be introducing "opt-in" viewing screens above videos that may be viewed as distressing so users could decide on whether to continue watching it before the video starts.
Mr Morgan said: "Keeping our community safe is a commitment with no finish line. We recognise the responsibility we have to our community to be nimble in our detection and response when new kinds of content and behaviours emerge.
"To that end, we’ll keep advancing our policies, developing features that help people manage their experience, and empowering our community to help us foster a trustworthy environment. Ultimately, we hope these updates enable people to have a meaningful and positive TikTok experience."
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