TikTok will begin verifying accounts belonging to US government departments, politicians and political parties and ban videos aimed at campaign fundraising, the short-form video app said on Wednesday. said
The move comes as TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, and other social media platforms have been working to curb political misinformation ahead of November’s US midterm elections, which have been around for years. After being criticized for allowing such content to flourish on its services.
Political accounts can submit a request for verification, TikTok said, and the company will also work to verify the authenticity of profiles it believes belong to politicians or political parties.
A verified account, which is indicated by a blue check mark on other platforms like TikTok and Twitter, means that the platform has verified ownership of the account.
TikTok has long faced scrutiny from US lawmakers, who have questioned the Chinese-owned app’s user data protections. Read More The app has also tried to preserve its image for dance videos and comedy skits, and has banned political ads since 2019.
To help enforce the ban, accounts of politicians and parties will be automatically blocked from accessing advertising features, TikTok said in a blog post.
TikTok said it would update its policies to prevent campaign fundraising. Content that will be banned under the new policy includes videos of politicians or political parties that direct users to donate on their website.
Accounts will also be prohibited from using the monetization features available to influencers on the app, such as digital payments and gifting.
