TikTok launches fact-checker on eve Israel's Election Day

Social media giant says content that cannot be factually verified will not appear on its main 'For You' page and be completely taken down if human staff finds it false; users to also receive warning before sharing video
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The TikTok social media giant announced that it has launched a new fact-checker in Israel ahead of Election Day on Tuesday.
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  • The feature, dubbed "Know the Facts," will flag content with a special tab, warning users before sharing the video that the information cannot be factually verified.
    In addition, the company recruited a local team to join its global staff when it comes to political discourse in Israel to help monitor content and find fake news.
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    אפליקציית טיקטוק
    אפליקציית טיקטוק
    Illustrative
    (Photo: AP)
    Flagged videos will be looked over by a human team. Due to the length that this process can take, TikTok said that flagged content will not appear on the app's main "For You" page.
    Videos found to be false will be permanently taken down.
    But it is unclear how much this move will affect the spread of election disinformation on the app, with the launch being so close to actual voting.
    According to TikTok, after the launch of the new feature in other countries, it became clear that the video-sharing rates and likes on unverified content dropped.
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    הפיצ'ר החדש של טיקטוק
    הפיצ'ר החדש של טיקטוק
    The 'Know the Facts' feature on the app
    (Photo: Tik Tok)
    In recent months, the presence of Israeli politicians on the platform, which is especially popular among teenagers and young people, has been growing.
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the most followed Israeli politician, with more than 250,000 followers on the social network.
    Previous election campaigns have already shown that social networks are fertile ground for the spread of fake news and political interference.
    Fellow social media behemoths Facebook and Twitter have also preventive measures against the phenomenon, after being heavily criticized for not showing enough initiative on the matter.
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