In an effort to provide more educational content on its platform, TikTok has announced the expansion of its STEM feed to Europe.
Already rolled out across the US, TikTok’s STEM feed is set to roll out across Europe, beginning with the UK and Ireland.
The news comes as the social media platform continues to face scrutiny in the US and the UK over the content it shows, as well as its alleged affiliation with the Chinese government.
TikTok STEM feed
The STEM feed, designed to provide users with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics knowledge from experts, will be available alongside the existing ‘For You’ and ‘Following’ tabs. For users under the age of 18, the feed will be enabled by default, with older users granted permission to disable it.
TikTok has partnered with Common Sense Networks and Poynter to review material featured on the STEM feed in order to ensure accuracy.
The company said (via SocialMediaToday): “Starting in the UK and Ireland today, and across Europe in the coming weeks, users will be able to click on the STEM feed, alongside For You feed, to open up a world of knowledge from respected experts in their fields. The feed will include English speaking content with auto-translate subtitles, which will be fact checked by two independent organizations.”
Partners will include physicist @particleclara from The Large Hadron Collider at CERN and @NewScientist magazine.
Since its launch in the US, the STEM feed has gained notable traction, with one-third of teenage users engaging with it on a weekly basis. More than 15 million STEM-related videos have been published on the app in the past three years (via TechCrunch).
Despite the platform’s efforts to provide more accurate information, the launch comes amid scrutiny over TikTok’s content moderation practises, with an ongoing EU investigation into its Digital Services Act compliance relating to its handling of inappropriate content.
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