TikTok recently hosted TikTok Digital Literacy Hub: A Guide to Online Safety, a panel discussion where the platform reiterated its continued commitment to help users navigate the digital environment safely.
TikTok does this through the in-app Digital Literacy Hub, a portal containing information on mental well-being, cyber wellness, minor safety, potentially dangerous online challenges, and other digital literacy topics.
Panelists during the discussion included Kristoffer Rada, TikTok head of public policy, the Philippines; Mona Magno-Veluz, TikTok content creator; Ching Jorge, chief of party, YouthLed; and Gian Libot, Internews senior program officer.
Anchored by hashtag #thinkb4youdo, the hub promotes safe online behavior and encourages everyone to think twice before doing anything on the Internet or before taking on dangerous challenges.
“We wanted to reiterate TikTok’s commitment to digital literacy not just in the Philippines, but also across Southeast Asia,” said Kristoffer Rada, TikTok head of policy in the Philippines.
“We realized that this problem cannot be solved by one sector alone. It really needs a holistic approach, a multi-pronged approach for us to get to a solution. We all have the power within ourselves to be the initial gatekeepers of what could be fake news. We are embarking on that first step of this journey towards critical thinking and digital literacy,” he added.
TikTok’s initiative in the Philippines and across Southeast Asia also hosts digital literacy tips that can help users make smart choices. The tips come in the form of videos, quizzes, and scenario-based learning content that users can easily relate to.
Users are also encouraged to be critical about information they read on social media and on the Internet. The Digital Literacy Hub provides tools that will help users identify and report inappropriate materials and platforms that spread false information.
“A huge portion of digital literacy has been focused on how to use stuff, how to be able to navigate a specific platform – and that’s well and good,” said Libot. But the missing ingredient there is to introduce some critical thinking within consumption. Because at the end of the day, if you are exposed to false information, the best person to be able to check that information is going to be you, the consumer,”
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