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From FYP to WW3

Our research shows how the algorithm of TikTok’s For You Page may amplify pro-military and pro-NATO content.

16-10-2025

Project overview

Report cover

In the midst of global conflicts involving NATO and the Trump Administration’s calls for higher military spending, along with Dutch political instability, we examined how TikTok’s algorithm amplifies polarizing content around war during the 2025 NATO Summit in The Hague. We trained 12 accounts in the Netherlands and compared TikTok search results with personalized For You Pages (FYPs).

With the rise of “WarTok” and TikTok’s growing role in political engagement — especially among youth — it’s crucial to understand how the platform shapes narratives about war and global tensions.

Our report finds:

  • FYPs prioritized videos on military content, weapons, and war speculation, while searches showed content on NATO perspectives, ongoing conflicts, and news.
  • “World War III” appeared in roughly 1 in 25 FYP videos.
  • Content around the NATO Summit evolved from factual to more participatory or humorous.
  • Both search results and FYPs reflected a pro-NATO stance, often critical of Russia (63% in search; 48% on FYPs) and supportive of leaders like Macron (33%) and Rutte (37%).

Project Details

Solution & Methodology

This research compares two datasets: TikTok search results and For You Page (FYP) feeds after querying for/training them on neutral queries related to the 2025 NATO summit. Search data was collected automatically, while FYP data came from manually trained feeds simulating typical Dutch users. The datasets were collected between June 16 and July 4, 2025, around the time of the 2025 NATO Summit. We built an annotation pipeline, using an LLM, to classify videos by topic, entity, and sentiment.

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