TikTok is bringing its dedicated STEM feed to Europe | TechCrunch – Techcrunch
As TikTok continues to face elevated strain within the U.S. and the U.K., the company is signaling its commitment to fostering tutorial state material on its app. The corporate announced on Tuesday that it’s rising its dedicated STEM feed one day of Europe, starting within the U.K. and Eire, after first launching it within the U.S. closing year.
The STEM feed will begin to automatically seem alongside the “For You” and “Following” feeds for users beneath the age of 18. Users above the age of 18 can allow the STEM feed by scheme of the app’s “state material preferences” settings. The feed involves English-talking state material with auto-translate subtitles.
TikTok says that since launching the feed within the U.S. closing year, 33% of users have the STEM feed enabled and a third of children toddle to the STEM feed every week. The app has viewed a 24% progress in STEM-linked state material within the U.S. for the explanation that feed launched. Over the previous three years, almost 15 million STEM-linked movies had been printed on the app globally.
The corporate is rising its partnerships with General Sense Networks and Poynter to assess the total state material exhibiting on the STEM feed. General Sense Networks will gaze the state material to make certain it’s applicable for the STEM feed, while Poynter will assess the reliability of the guidelines. Command material that doesn’t pass each and each of these checkpoints would possibly perchance now now not be eligible for the STEM feed.
The begin of the STEM feed comes as TikTok has been criticized for exhibiting sinister state material to children and children, with rights groups alleging that the app makes expend of addictive originate practices to assign users engaged for as prolonged as attainable.
In February, the European Union talked about it used to be investigating whether TikTok has breached the Digital Services Act, which contains principles for conserving users get on-line. The fee is investigating whether the app is doing sufficient to stop minors from discovering horrid state material and figuring out whether its originate decisions stimulate addictive behavior.
With this day’s announcement, TikTok is looking for to extra most up-to-date itself as an tutorial hub for the thousands and thousands of younger users on its app as a approach to counter criticisms from lawmakers around the sphere. The corporate has already veteran the STEM feed to counter claims that it’s sinister for younger users, as TikTok CEO Shou Chew touted the feed while testifying in two separate U.S. congressional hearings, one in March 2023 and one in January 2024.
