TikTok is Increasingly Becoming a News Source

Question

As TikTok continues to gain more users each day, it is now becoming a platform that includes more than just dancing videos - it is now a main source of news for at least 20% of adults. The issue with this is that TikTok is struggling to deal with what is true and what is false.

Answer 1

This claim is true. Especially as the younger generations, who grew up on tiktok get older they depend on it as a reliable source of information. Pew research did a study and speaks on their findings saying “it has also become a popular news source for young adults. In our new survey, 43% of adults under 30 say they regularly get news there, up from 9% in 2020.” (https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/09/25/1-in-5-americans-now-regularly-get-news-on-tiktok-up-sharply-from-2020/) 

Although tiktok is a huge platform for the younger generations it is also becoming widespread among the older generations with Pew research saying “Adults ages 30 to 49 have also increasingly been getting news on TikTok: A quarter now say they do so regularly, up from just 2% five years ago.” (https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/09/25/1-in-5-americans-now-regularly-get-news-on-tiktok-up-sharply-from-2020/).

As tiktok grows, so does its influence. After 2020 when it was at its biggest, numbers have grown significantly, the article says “More than half of TikTok users (55%) now say they regularly get news on the platform, up from 22% in 2020.” (https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/09/25/1-in-5-americans-now-regularly-get-news-on-tiktok-up-sharply-from-2020/)

Answer 2

I think this article is true. The writer, Mia Sato, a reporter at The Verge covering tech companies, platforms, and users, wrote this article in 2022. According to an article, Pew Research Center conducted a credible survey in 2025, which showed that the number of people who use TikTok to get news has continued to increase year by year. 

It is true that the number of people who use TikTok as a way to access news is growing. However, whether they view it as a credible news source is another matter. Many users are likely to view TikTok news as an entry point to learning about current events, but they often seek other platforms to verify its accuracy . (Zicheng Cheng, 2025)

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1461670X.2025.2559020?casa_token=40FJS-LbSIcAAAAA%3Ayr9GwH63-aCjHz-leNsDwMgl5yk0FDJGqWcSczs7_LclzM9xRK-El1J73NF61oilA2lBOg2KqR1P#abstract

 

According to Hanne Peeters and Kristin Van Damme(2025), “while young audiences find it valuable to encounter news on social media, they mainly associate the platforms with informal and inspirational information, and do not desire social media to take on a more serious or important role in this regard”

.https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/01JNZYB1EXP3S6C59YGWTAAY7N

Answer 3

This claim is becoming increasingly true. Tik Tok is a hugely popular app that has grown and changed greatly over the years. Young people have dominated the app but in recent years it has gained popularity with older generations. In the past five years there has been a dramatic increase in the number of people getting their news from the app. Pew Research indicates as many as 20% of Americans now get their news from TikTok.  A recent study by the Pew Research Center found, “ 43% of adults under 30 say they regularly get news there, up from 9% in 2020. Adults ages 30 to 49 have also increasingly been getting news on Tik Tok: A quarter now say they do regularly, up from just 2% five years ago. Much smaller shares of adults ages from 50 to 65 and older say they regularly get news there (10% and 3% respectively, as of this year).” Pew Research Center  Consumption of content, and increasingly news content from Tik Tok continues to climb. People are consuming content that may seem news based, but is actually more entertainment. Content isn’t actually news. In another study conducted by the Pew Research Center about where users are sourcing information they found, “84% (of users) report seeing funny posts about current events, and 80% see opinion posts about the news. Smaller majorities say they see news articles (57%) or information about breaking news as it's happening (55%). In total, nine-in-ten TikTok users say they ever see at least one of these types of news on the site.” Pew Research Center  Sharing news based content on TikTok is increasingly popular. Content creators include elements from current events, but it isn’t actually news. Actual news content comes from reliable, fact checked, informed sources. With people always adding to the mix of information out there difficulties arise in finding what is actually credible and what is not. In an article from UConn Today they discuss how TikTok can be a wild place,and information and facts may not be valid. “TikTok doesn’t have specific rules for sharing news, and it doesn’t separate news from other categories of information… Journalists at reputable news outlets, on the other hand, must follow certain standards. For one, journalists will vet and cite their sources. That means they will share who they interviewed or what expert gave them their information, and that they’ve done research to make sure it's a trustworthy source in the first place.” UConn Today Information is being spread constantly on TikTok, misinformation is easily dispersed especially on such a large platform. “TikTok is full of user-generated content-content that is created by other users on the app rather than official news organizations-so it’s important to think about what is in your feed. This means knowing what is actually news and what is something else, like opinion or advertising.” UConn Today It’s clear that an ever increasing number of people are sourcing news from TikTok. Unfortunately there is no clear fact checker that sorts through what is actually being said and posted so unless people are doing their own fact checking there is no guarantee what they’re seeing is really news.