As the fastest-growing social media platform, TikTok is under scrutiny to keep its algorithm from turning into another Facebook, vilified by everyone from government to parents’ groups to democracy advocates for driving harmful content.
But while the newly ascendant video service has pledged to rework its secret viral recommendation engine, it is facing challenges – from users finding their own workarounds to skepticism in Congress and technology experts. As new research has found that TikTok is driving misinformation in posts about drugs, violence and anti-vaccination, this has led to a lack of trust among many that TikTok really intends to veer from its path of massive growth.