TikTok drives global carbon footprint higher than Instagram, study finds
A new study highlights TikTok’s outsized environmental impact, estimating the platform’s annual carbon footprint at 50 million metric tons. The data shows that social media’s annual carbon footprint may surpass that of Greece, Kazinform News Agency reports.
According to an analysis by Greenly, TikTok’s 2023 emissions in the U.S., U.K., and France alone reached approximately 7.6 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent (CO2e). This figure surpasses emissions from platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Snapchat in the same regions.
With a global user base of 1 billion people, TikTok’s overall carbon footprint is estimated to be around 50 million metric tons of CO2e, placing it just above Instagram despite Instagram having nearly double the number of users. The difference lies in user behavior: the average TikTok user spends 45.5 minutes on the app daily compared to 30.6 minutes on Instagram.
Greenly’s analysis attributes 99% of these emissions to data center usage, with the remainder tied to device charging. TikTok’s emissions are significant on a per-user level, equating to the greenhouse gases produced by driving a gasoline-powered car an additional 123 miles annually. In comparison, YouTube and Instagram users generate emissions equivalent to driving 102 miles and 83 miles, respectively.
TikTok’s emissions are also notable for their opacity. Unlike competitors such as Meta and Google, which provide detailed emissions data, TikTok has no publicly available reports. The platform also currently operates only one renewable energy data center in Norway.
