Fact-Checking on TikTok: Comparing Professional and Public Fact-Checkers’ Content Practices

Increasingly, the global public relies on social media for information gathering and opinion formation but the spread of misinformation is a major global risk. Though this is not necessarily a new problem, the prevalence of misinformation and disinformation and their speed in dissemination via social media represents an important challenge for democracies. With the rapid rise of short-form video platforms, our study explores the fact-checking efforts by both fact-checking organizations and influential individuals on TikTok. Findings reveal the diversity of fact-checking content strategies applied by professionals and the public through the application of TikTok features and affordances. The study highlights how fact-checking content adapts to a platform's unique affordances and user culture highlighting the dynamic, interactive, and diverse efforts to address misinformation using short-form video.