When AI draws vampires
TikTok users are increasingly monetizing videos that promote unfounded “conspiracy theories” about the end of the world , according to a report by the nonprofit organization Media Matters.
It's the latest illustration of how misinformation is spreading at breakneck speed on the platform — a difficult issue that has repeatedly come up in recent policy debates, particularly as US lawmakers consider banning the app on national security grounds.
Malicious videos with spooky background music, images, and even celebrity voices generated by artificial intelligence (AI) often attract millions of views on TikTok. Conspiracy videos , in particular, are often posted by anonymous accounts.
TikTok researcher Abbie Richards said such videos could be financially beneficial to TikTok creators, through a creator program on the platform.
This “cottage industry” is powered by AI tools that are widely available and free.
For its part, a TikTok spokesperson stressed that “conspiracy theories are not eligible for monetization or recommendation” in users’ feeds.
The person asserted that malicious misinformation would be banned and that the safety team would proactively remove 95% of it before receiving reports from users.
Concerns about AI-generated misinformation are particularly high this year, with major elections expected to take place around the world.
Europe and America are both afraid of TikTok
Last week, the European Union (EU) used the Digital Services Act (DSA) to pressure several platforms, including TikTok, to address the risks of AI that could negatively impact upcoming elections in the 27-nation bloc.
In the US, which has about 170 million TikTok users, lawmakers also overwhelmingly supported a bill to ban TikTok last week.
The bill, passed by the House of Representatives on March 13, requires parent company ByteDance to take steps to relinquish control of the TikTok app within 180 days, or the app will be banned from Apple and Google app stores in the US.
This is seen as the biggest threat yet to the video-sharing app TikTok, which has become wildly popular around the world, due to allegations of copyright infringement and misuse of user data. TikTok has repeatedly denied the allegations.
Source
Comment (0)