TikTok adds new features to combat harassment, misinformation

TikTok has added new features to its comments section to combat harassment and is clamping down on fake news.

On 10 March, the company announced it would give users more control over comments posted on their videos.

It is also adding prompts to comments that violate community guidelines and videos that may contain misinformation.

The new features will be rolled out in the US and Canada at first, and then the rest of the world in the coming weeks.

TikTok comment controls and prompts

Tiktok creators will have extended power over their comments section.

The Filter All Comments feature allows them to decide what comments are seen under their videos. When the feature is enabled, no comments will be displayed until the creator approves them.

This is on top of other features such as spam filters and the ability to block out specific words.

If a user posts a comment which may be inappropriate, they will first be sent a prompt reminding them of Tiktok’s community guidelines.

They will also be given the chance to edit their comment before sharing it.

Tiktok is also adding prompts to videos that are flagged as unsubstantiated content.

They have partnered up with several fact-checking companies such as Lead Stories and Politifact to achieve this.

If a video is flagged, a notification will be sent to the creator. For viewers, a banner will appear above the video informing them of the flagging.

If a viewer tries to share the video, they will receive a prompt reminding them and it will ask if they are sure that they want to share it.

TikTok isn’t the first social media platform to roll out prompts.

Instagram introduced a similar process in 2019 and Twitter announced last year that it is working on something similar.

Feature image: Solen Feyissa/Unsplash

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