By Mallory Mattingly
TikTok is testing a new feature called Footnotes, which will allow users to give more context to content on the app.
“Footnotes will draw on the collective knowledge of the TikTok community by allowing people to add relevant information to content on our platform,” Adam Presser, Head of Operations and Trust and Safety, wrote in a press release on TikTok.
The comments section on TikTok already allows “people to share their opinions and engage in dialogue around content. 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,” the press release explained.
Not all users can be a Footnote contributor, though. Users have to apply to become one, and they also have to be on the app for more than six months, be older than 18 and have “no recent history of violating our Community Guidelines.”
Presser added, “It will add to our suite of measures that help people understand the reliability of content and access authoritative sources, including our content labels, search banners, our fact-checking program and more.”
TikTok’s move follows what X and Meta have done through Community Notes, but unlike those platforms, TikTok will still maintain its fact-checking partnerships.
“Footnotes augments our existing suite of platform integrity measures and features. For example, we add labels to content that can’t be verified,” Presser wrote. “We provide access to reliable information through TikTok’s Election Centers and in Search. We also continue to partner with more than 20 IFCN-accredited fact-checking organizations to assess the accuracy of content on TikTok in over 60 languages and in 130 markets around the world. Footnotes adds to these efforts with more ways to add helpful details that may be missing, ultimately enriching discussions on TikTok and improving the experience for viewers, contributors and creators alike.”
TikTok’s future in the United States is still unknown. On April 4, ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, provided a statement regarding “a potential solution for TikTok U.S.”
“An agreement has not been executed. There are key matters to be resolved. Any agreement will be subject to approval under Chinese law,” the ByteDance spokesperson said.
Related: ByteDance Clarifies It’s Not Selling TikTok
The law that required ByteDance to sell the app or be banned in the U.S. was supposed to be enacted on Jan. 19. President Donald Trump delayed it to April 4. On April 4, as no agreement was reached, the president extended the ban deadline by 75 days.
The deal is still “on the table,” according to a video shared by PTI News.
TikTok continues to move forward with business updates like Footnotes, even as its future in the U.S. is unknown.
Read Next: House Passes Bill That Could Ban TikTok in United States
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