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TikTok users will be able to properly give credit where credit is due for the first time!
Unfortunately, Black TikTok creators are rarely acknowledged for their enormous cultural contributions. Now, the platform says they are taking action to address the issue.
“Today, we’re introducing new tools to better enable creator credit and equitable attribution for our creator community and content originators,” TikTok said in an official statement.
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They continued: “These features are an important step in our ongoing commitment to investing in resources and product experiences that support a culture of credit, which is central to ensuring TikTok remains a home for creative expression.”
This decision could directly result from a public uproar by Black content creators on TikTok who felt disregarded, discriminated against and disrespected on the platform despite their material receiving millions of views.
Last year, for example, TikTok star Addison Rae — one of the platform’s most popular and highest-paid creators — was chastised after she appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and performed popular TikTok dances without giving credit to the primarily Black TikTok users who invented them.
Fallon acknowledged the original creators of the viral dance in a follow-up episode and invited five of them to perform their dances on the show.
Black TikTok creators also weren’t listed on Forbes’ list of Top-Earning TikTok creators.
As a result, TikTok saw a #BlackTikTokStrike last summer to assist Black creatives concerned about their work being duplicated without proper acknowledgment by non-Black users.
The new TikTok capabilities, which will be available in the coming weeks, will allow creators to tag and credit others directly through a new button in the app.
The feature’s rollout was spearheaded by Kudzi Chikumbu, TikTok’s US director of the creative community.
“It’s important to see a culture of credit take shape across the digital landscape and to support underrepresented creators in being properly credited and celebrated for their work,” Chikumbu stated.
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He added, “whether taking part in the latest trend, adding a punchline to a joke, or creating the next viral sound, creators can easily and directly cite their inspiration.”
In January 2021, TikTok paired with Charles King’s Macro production business to develop the “TikTok for Black Creatives” incubator program, which aims to invest in and support upcoming Black creators and musicians on TikTok.
Macro and TikTok also chose ten creators to get $50,000 and one-on-one coaching from Macro executives on how to make their dream projects a reality.
Do you think this new feature will allow Black TikTok creators get the recognition that they deserve?
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