Misframing Marine Plastic Pollution on TikTok

TikTok has emerged as a significant platform for environmental communication, particularly in ocean protection and waste cleanup. This paper analyzes 250 English-language videos tagged with #plasticpollution and #marineplasticpollution. The videos were retrieved in 2023 by searching hashtags and downloading available videos chronologically from the “Top 100” section. Our analysis includes a descriptive statistical analysis of content framing (cause, issue, solution) derived from marine plastic pollution literature and a 10% video sample, as well as stylistic framing (deficit/dialogue, fearful/hopeful) delineated from established environmental communication models. Our findings suggest a significant disjuncture between experts’ perceptions of marine plastic pollution, obtained through a literature review on the topic, and how the issue is presented on TikTok. Specifically, TikTok individualizes the causes and solutions to the challenge, tends to foreground technological answers, and primarily frames the nature of the issue as solely ecological. This presents a one-sided perspective on this systemic problem and neglects the socio-political injustices tied to plastic pollution. Stylistically, most videos use a data-centered deficit model and a fearful emotional genre, assuming the public needs information due to a knowledge gap while evoking apprehension to drive action. While these models could raise awareness of the issue, they differ from the preferred dialogue and optimistic communication models, which have been linked to greater public engagement based on previous research in the field. Generally, this research finds that the framing of marine plastic pollution in English-language TikTok videos perpetuates one-sided narratives, suggesting flaws in how demographics consuming these videos obtain information about the challenge.