As TikTok continues to face increased pressure in the U.S. and the U.S United Kingdom, the company signals its commitment to promoting educational content in its app. The company announced on Tuesday that it is expanding its exclusive STEM stream across Europe, starting with the UK and Ireland, after first launching it in the US last year.
The STEM feed will automatically start appearing next to the “For You” and “Following” feeds for users under 18. Users over the age of 18 can turn on the STEM stream through the app’s “content preferences” settings. The stream includes English-language content with automatically translated subtitles.
TikTok says that since the stream launched in the US last year, 33% of users have turned on the STEM stream, and a third of teens go to the STEM stream every week. The app has seen a 24% increase in STEM-related content in the US since the stream launched. Over the past three years, nearly 15 million STEM-related videos have been posted to the app worldwide.
The company is expanding its partnerships with Common sense networks and Poynter to rate all content appearing on the STEM feed. Common Sense Networks will review the content to ensure it is appropriate for the STEM stream, while Poynter will assess the credibility of the information. Content that does not pass both of these checkpoints will not be eligible for the STEM stream.
The release of the STEM stream comes as TikTok has been criticized for showing harmful content to children and teenagers, with groups of rights they claim that the app uses addictive design practices to keep users engaged for as long as possible.
In February, the European Union said it was investigating whether TikTok has breached the Digital Services Act, which includes rules to keep users safe online. The commission investigates whether the app does enough to prevent minors from finding inappropriate content and determines whether its design choices encourage addictive behavior.
With today’s announcement, TikTok is seeking to further present itself as an educational hub for the app’s millions of new users as a way to counter criticism from lawmakers around the world. The company has already used the STEM stream to counter claims that it is harmful to young users, with TikTok CEO Shou Chew touting the stream while testifying at two separate US Congressional hearings, one in March 2023 and one in January 2024.
