As TikTok continues to face elevated strain within the U.S. and the U.Ok., the corporate is signaling its dedication to fostering academic content material on its app. The corporate introduced on Tuesday that it’s increasing its devoted STEM feed throughout Europe, beginning within the U.Ok. and Eire, after first launching it within the U.S. final yr.
The STEM feed will start to mechanically seem alongside the “For You” and “Following” feeds for customers underneath the age of 18. Customers above the age of 18 can allow the STEM feed through the app’s “content material preferences” settings. The feed contains English-speaking content material with auto-translate subtitles.
TikTok says that since launching the feed within the U.S. final yr, 33% of customers have the STEM feed enabled and a 3rd of teenagers go to the STEM feed each week. The app has seen a 24% progress in STEM-related content material within the U.S. because the feed launched. Over the previous three years, nearly 15 million STEM-related movies have been revealed on the app globally.
The corporate is increasing its partnerships with Widespread Sense Networks and Poynter to evaluate all the content material showing on the STEM feed. Widespread Sense Networks will study the content material to make sure it’s acceptable for the STEM feed, whereas Poynter will assess the reliability of the knowledge. Content material that doesn’t move each of those checkpoints won’t be eligible for the STEM feed.
The launch of the STEM feed comes as TikTok has been criticized for exhibiting dangerous content material to children and teenagers, with rights teams alleging that the app makes use of addictive design practices to maintain customers engaged for so long as doable.
In February, the European Union mentioned it was investigating whether or not TikTok has breached the Digital Companies Act, which incorporates guidelines for protecting customers secure on-line. The fee is investigating whether or not the app is doing sufficient to cease minors from discovering inappropriate content material and figuring out whether or not its design decisions stimulate addictive conduct.
With at the moment’s announcement, TikTok is in search of to additional current itself as an academic hub for the tens of millions of younger customers on its app as a solution to counter criticisms from lawmakers around the globe. The corporate has already used the STEM feed to counter claims that it’s dangerous for younger customers, as TikTok CEO Shou Chew touted the feed whereas testifying in two separate U.S. congressional hearings, one in March 2023 and one in January 2024.
