As its future in the United States remains uncertain amidst ongoing regulatory scrutiny, TikTok has begun testing a new feature called "Footnotes" for its users in the country. Launched on Wednesday, this functionality bears a striking resemblance to "Community Notes," a crowd-sourced fact-checking system already implemented by platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Meta (Facebook and Instagram).

According to the short-video platform, "Footnotes" will empower users to contribute "more context" and "relevant information" directly to content shared on the app. This initiative aims to enhance the platform's existing measures designed to help users assess the reliability of information they encounter.

"It will add to our suite of measures that help people understand the reliability of content and access authoritative sources, including our content labels, search banners, our fact-checking program and more," stated Adam Presser, TikTok's Head of Operations and Trust and Safety, in an official blog post announcing the trial.

With this update, TikTok joins the growing list of social media companies adopting a crowd-sourced moderation model. Just last month, Meta commenced testing its own "Community Notes" feature in the U.S., leveraging the technology initially developed by X, which is owned by Elon Musk.

The operational future of TikTok in the U.S., where it boasts a user base of nearly half the American population, has been in limbo following the passage of a bipartisan law in 2024. This legislation mandated that ByteDance, TikTok's China-based parent company, divest the popular app by January 19th.

The U.S. President extended this deadline for a second time in April and indicated that a potential resolution remains a possibility.

TikTok announced that U.S.-based users can now apply to become "Footnotes" contributors. The company will also proactively identify and notify users who meet the established eligibility criteria.

To qualify as a "Footnotes" contributor, users must be at least 18 years old, possess an account that is over six months old, and have a clean record of adhering to TikTok's community guidelines, with no recent violations.

TikTok further detailed that the system will allow contributors holding differing viewpoints to participate in a voting process to determine the helpfulness and relevance of submitted footnotes. This approach aims to foster a more balanced and community-driven assessment of the contextual information provided.