On average, one minute spent scrolling through TikTok would cause 2.921 grams of CO2e.
A recent analysis of social media platforms’ impact on the environment shows TikTok‘s annual carbon emissions are probably larger than Greece’s. Each social media platform user contributes as much greenhouse gas as driving an additional 123 miles in a gasoline vehicle annually.
Greenly, a Paris-based carbon accounting firm, estimated that TikTok emissions in the US, UK, and France for 2023 will reach around .6 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), more than Twitter and Snapchat for the same country.
TikTok has 1 billion users throughout the world, but Greenly’s report estimates that it will be more than that of Instagram, even though Instagram has almost twice as many users.
The difference in the carbon emissions is due to the highly engaging nature of the Chinese-based platform. An average user of Instragm only spends 30.6 minutes on the app daily, but an average user of TikTok spends 45.5 minutes scrolling daily.
Alexis Normand, CEO of Greenly, states that the entire algorithm is designed to promote the growth of the views of the video. This additive nature motivates people to increase their carbon footprint.
The overall carbon emissions for TikTok must be around 50 million metric tonnes of CO2e, considering that the US, UK, and France represent 15% of the app’s total users.
The calculations did not account for the minor sources of TikTok’s emissions, like office spaces and employees commuting to work. So, these figures are an underestimate.
For context, Greece’s carbon emission in the year 2023 would be 51.67 million metric tonnes of CO2e.
Greenly’s study estimated that TikTok users are second in causing emissions per minute of usage compared to all other social media platforms, just behind YouTube.
On average, one minute spent scrolling through TikTok would cause 2.921 grams of CO2e, while YouTube emits 2.923 grams per minute. Instagram only emits 2.912 grams per minute.
These small differences add up significantly. According to Greenly’s findings, since a lot of content is available, it causes a longer scrolling duration, and TikTok causes the highest yearly emissions.
An average TikTok user emits 48.49 kg of CO2e annually. YouTube comes in second place, with an average of 40.17 kg, and Instragm users produce just 32.52 kg.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, this is the difference between driving a gas vehicle for 123 miles (TikTok), 102 miles (YouTube), and 82.8 miles (Instagram).
Compared to all social media platforms, TikTok displays the least transparency about its emissions. Other tech companies like Meta and Google submit their annual reports to the Carbon Disclosure Project and publish their findings on their site, but TikTok doesn’t have any statistics about its emissions available to the public.
Some social media companies have pledged to power their data centers with renewable energy, but these commitments vary greatly.
The Chinese app has committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030, so it introduced ‘Project Clover’ in 2023 to achieve it and improve its data security.
Only one data center run by renewable energy has been established till now. It is a €12 billion plant in Norway that runs entirely on renewable energy.
It is uncertain whether the commitments will continue under the new ownership. A US appeals court has confirmed a law requiring Chinese company ByteDance to sell the platform to a non-Chinese buyer by January 19, 2025. but the company is trying to postpone this until a newly friendlier Trump administration takes office in January.
If a US company buys the platform, the rules passed this year would require the company to publicly report its emissions if necessary for investors, though the Trump administration will probably reverse it.
TikTok did not give a response to the request to comment.