Per minute, TikTok is 10% higher in a 2023 measurement: Greenspector puts a minute on TikTok at 0.96 g and a minute on YouTube or Instagram at 0.87 g, on a phone over Wi-Fi. The difference between platforms comes mostly from the time people spend on them. The 2021 edition of the same measurement, run on a different phone with a different test scenario, showed a ratio of 1 to 5.7 between YouTube and TikTok. The December 2024 study applies almost the same per-minute figure to all 3 apps.
Read the source article: TikTok carbon footprint: 36 to 64 gCO2e per hour of video