Social media platform TikTok has come under fire over its failure to appropriately combat misinformation with regards to the Covid-19 vaccine and the pandemic.
TikTok Criticised For Not Following Its Own Guidelines On Covid Misinformation
That is according to a new research study conducted by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD). This is the latest disgruntlement with the social media platform, which has been accused of having an inconsistent criteria for determining whether or not something should be uploaded or removed from their platform.
The statistics within the study went on to show that over 3,000 videos, that were shared on the platform, were deemed to be from sources that were not credible.
That is not to say that just because something has not come from an official source that it cannot be valid. However, the chances of it being reliable are obviously going to be a whole lot less.
At a time where there is uncertainty about whether or not people want to take the Covid-19 vaccine, this is a sign that things are not right.
Ciaran O’Connor, who happens to be the author of this study, had this to say: “During a public health crisis like Covid-19, it is vitally important that online platforms act quickly to mitigate against such shortcomings.”
These comments continued to gather traction, with a certain subset of people becoming worried over whether they could now trust what they were reading on the social media platform.
In addition, given that the majority of people are not qualified medical personnel, it is not possible for somebody to judge appropriately whether something is misinformation or whether it can be taken as something credible.
Nevertheless, TikTok continued to stand in defiance of the criticism that it was receiving. In an official statement in response, a spokesperson for the platform remarked: “[TikTok] works diligently to take action on content and accounts that spread misinformation.
“While also promoting authoritative content about vaccines through our Covid-19 information hub.” It will be interesting to see where TikTok goes from here.
There is a fine line between allowing freedom of speech and then having some checks and balances in place to ensure that people receive the appropriate information.
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