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