In a trend reported by the non-profit organization Media Matters, TikTok users are trying to monetize viral videos that falsely claim that the US government is secretly capturing or harboring mythical monsters that include — wait for it — King Kong.
It’s the latest illustration of the misinformation swirling through the platform – a stubborn issue that has been largely absent from recent policy debates as US lawmakers consider banning the Chinese-owned app on national security grounds.
The videos, many of which have millions of views, often accompanied by haunting background music, feature bossy AI-generated voices that sometimes mimic celebrities.
At least one account selling the video appeared to have been deactivated after AFP reached out to TikTok for comment.
Conspiracy theory videos, often posted by anonymous accounts, typically had telltale signs of AI-generated images, such as extra fingers and distortions, TikTok disinformation researcher Abbie Richards said.
According to Richards, spreading such theories can be financially rewarding because TikTok’s “creativity program” is designed to pay creators for content generated on the platform.
What she called a cottage industry of AI-powered conspiracy theory videos, including text-to-speech apps, has sprung up, which are widely — and freely — available online.
“Harmful misinformation is prohibited and our security teams proactively remove 95 percent of it before it is reported,” she told AFP.
One such tutorial openly instructed users to start by coming up with “something outrageous”, such as “scientists have just been caught hiding a saber-toothed tiger”.
“Financial incentives for content that is highly engaging and cheap to produce creates an environment for conspiracy theories to thrive,” Richards wrote in a Media Matters report.
These concerns, caused by rapid advances in artificial intelligence, are especially great in a year of major elections around the world.
Last week, the European Union used its powerful Digital Services Act (DSA) to challenge several platforms, including TikTok, on AI risks – including deepfakes – for upcoming elections in the 27-nation bloc.
In the United States, where the app has about 170 million users — roughly half the country’s population — lawmakers last week overwhelmingly backed a bill to ban TikTok unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, is sold within six months.
The bill, which has yet to be approved by the more cautious upper house of the US Congress, risks angering young voters in a key election year.
American politicians have repeatedly expressed concerns about TikTok’s alleged ties to the Chinese government, the security of user data and its apparent impact on national security.
The Chinese government is using TikTok to expand its global influence operations to promote pro-Beijing narratives and undermine American democracy, including through disinformation, according to a report by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
However, many experts and young users who rely on the app as their primary source of news oppose TikTok’s ban, saying it’s unfair to single out the platform.
“There is a lot of misinformation on TikTok, just like on other social media platforms. Some of that misinformation is dangerous,” Jameel Jaffer, director of Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute, told AFP.
