TikTok has launched Footnotes, a crowdsourced fact-checking system, in a pilot program for U.S. users, mirroring features like X’s and Meta’s Community Notes. This system allows contributors to write and rate notes on TikTok videos to provide additional context and combat misinformation.
All U.S. TikTok users can view Footnotes deemed helpful by the community and contribute by submitting their own ratings.
The Footnotes system employs a bridging algorithm to identify consensus among users with diverse perspectives. Notes rated as helpful by opposing viewpoints are considered more credible, a method designed to prevent biased voting or brigading.
Footnotes aim to clarify content by adding context, addressing both intentional misrepresentations and unintentional omissions by video posters.
TikTok emphasizes that Footnotes will complement, not replace, its Global Fact-checking Program, which collaborates with over 20 IFCN-accredited fact-checking organizations across 60 languages and 130 markets worldwide.
TikTok first revealed its intent to test Footnotes in April, aiming to equip its community with tools to better understand the content they encounter on the platform.
Since April, nearly 80,000 U.S. users who are over 18, have been on TikTok for at least six months, and have a clean record regarding Community Standards have qualified as contributors.
Then Twitter introduced the feature called Birdwatch in 2020, which became Community Notes after global expansion in 2022. Under Elon Musk’s leadership, X has further developed this system, incorporating AI-generated notes and new applications for highlighting popular content.
The open-source model of X’s Community Notes has influenced other platforms, particularly as some companies aim to address conservative concerns about bias in traditional left-leaning fact-checking systems.
Meta, for instance, shifted away from conventional fact-checking this year to adopt a Community Notes-style system in the U.S. YouTube also introduced a similar feature called Notes last year.