TikTok is turning its community into fact-checkers

TikTok is testing a new feature that, according to Head of Operations and Trust and Safety Adam Presser, will “draw on the collective knowledge of the TikTok community.” A collective spirit will inform Footnotes, a crowdsourced fact-checking tool that will be powered by a voting system.

In a Newsroom post, Presser described Footnotes as a way for TikTok users to add “relevant information” to videos. TikTokers who want to apply to use the new feature must be at least 18 years old, based in the U.S., active on the platform for at least six months, and without violations of TikTok’s Community Guidelines.

“Our comments section and other tools like Stitch and Duet already empower people to share their opinions and engage in dialogue around content,” Presser wrote. “Footnotes offers a new opportunity for people to share their expertise and add an additional layer of context to the discussion using a consensus-driven approach.”

That context will moderated through a “bridge-based” voting system that will let contributors comment and vote on one another’s Footnotes. The annotations that rise above a certain voting threshold will be made visible to the general TikTok community.

In the simplest sense, Footnotes is TikTok’s take on the Community Notes feature that offers viewer-led contextualization on platforms like X

and YouTube. As the Trump administration has attempted to crack down on what the President sees as overzealous social media rule enforcement, some tech companies have emphasized Community Notes as an alternative to other forms of moderation. Meta, for example, noted its community-written notes when it gutted its fact-checking program a few months ago.

Presser wrote that TikTok plans to incorporate Footnotes alongside preexisting moderation features. TikTok has taken strides to root out misinformation, but the issue has proven difficult to address. A recent report, for example, found that less than half of TikToker claims related to ADHD aligned with accepted diagnostic criteria.

A persistent problem requires a creative solution. Footnotes offers a potential middle ground, whereas more extreme approaches to moderation prove inefficient. If platforms come down hard on misinformation, they risk turning rule-abiding creators into false positives. If the YouTubes and TikToks of the world opt for a more lax approach, fact-checking organizations like Poynter come calling.

Now’s the time for TikTok to show it can deliver a balanced and effective approach to moderation. With the app’s U.S. operations under threat, TikTok must show that it can be trusted to accurately serve its impressionable audience. The launch of Footnotes is a step in the right direction.