TikTok Launches “Footnotes,” a Crowdsourced Fact-Checking Tool

Community Moderation to Combat Misinformation

TikTok has introduced “Footnotes,” a new crowdsourced fact-checking feature in the United States, reflecting the company’s efforts to address misinformation on its popular short-form video platform. This launch, announced on July 30, 2025, signals a strategic move to involve the TikTok community directly in moderating content and providing additional context to potentially misleading videos.

How Footnotes Work: Contributor Selection and Note Evaluation

Footnotes enlists a select group of nearly 80,000 U.S.-based contributors, veteran users who have maintained clean records and active accounts for at least six months. These contributors can write explanatory notes and rate the helpfulness of others’ notes, ensuring that community-sourced insight appears where context or clarification is most needed. The notes that achieve a consensus of helpfulness—meaning they are found valuable by a diverse range of contributors- become visible to the entire TikTok audience, sitting just below the associated videos.

Algorithmic Safeguards for Balanced Context

The design of Footnotes borrows from initiatives like X’s (previously Twitter) Community Notes and Meta’s own crowdsourced annotation efforts. However, TikTok emphasizes the system’s focus on surfacing balanced context: its algorithm actively prioritizes notes that bridge different viewpoints, guarding against group manipulation and bias.

Sourcing and Verification Requirements

Contributors are required to support their notes with credible sources, while TikTok is actively defining what qualifies as an authoritative reference. The intent is not just to correct misinformation but to empower users with relevant, timely information—from debunking conspiracy theories to explaining omitted details.

Integration with Existing Moderation Efforts

This community-driven approach is an additional layer atop TikTok’s existing content moderation toolkit, which includes professional fact-checking partnerships and labeling of unverifiable posts. According to company leaders, Footnotes is meant to complement—not replace—other automated and organizational moderation systems already in place.

Regulatory Backdrop and Future Outlook

TikTok’s latest feature launches at a time when U.S. regulatory scrutiny of social media platforms is intensifying, with persistent concerns over content governance and data privacy. As users begin interacting with Footnotes, the platform’s willingness to balance openness with information quality will be closely watched by policymakers and tech analysts alike.

Collective Knowledge for Real-Time Accountability

With all U.S. users now able to view and rate Footnotes, TikTok is betting that harnessing its own audience’s collective knowledge can bring more nuanced, real-time accountability to online discourse. The effectiveness of this experiment, however, will hinge on careful calibration and ongoing vigilance against misuse.