TikTok releases plan to fight US midterm election misinformation

TikTok is the latest tech company to announce its plans on how it will be combating misinformation during the US midterm elections that are slated to begin on November 8 this year. 
Thus far, Twitter and Meta have already announced how they will be rolling out new and old features in a bid to fight the increasing amount of misinformation on the Internet. The Chinese app released the US-oriented Elections Center last week on August 17, 2022. It is available in 40 languages including English and Spanish. 

As part of the app, the Elections Center will give users access to state-by-state election information. It will provide details like where people can register to vote, how to vote via mail and even details on how individuals can find where their polling booths are. 

The Center is supposed to be easily accessible and reached within a few button presses. It can be located via content labels on videos, the banner in the Friends tab and even the search and explore pages. 

Also Read: Why Twitter’s US midterm election misinformation plan might fall short

According to the blogpost, the plan is built off the back of lessons that the company had learnt during the 2020 presidential elections. This time around, the Elections Center is up and running nearly six weeks before it had started in 2020. 

Like it did in 2020, TikTok will be monitoring the app for content violations and will act accordingly, says the blogpost. Violations of its guidelines include harassing election workers, deep fakes of candidates, voting misinformation and incitements of violence. The blog says that depending on the kind of violation, content can be removed and even the creator can be banned from the app. 

Also Read: Meta rolling out old election guidelines as US midterms approach

Unlike Twitter and Meta which have a more hands off approach to political advertising, TikTok is attempting to steer clear of any sort of controversy by banning any and all political ads on the platform. So much so that the company claims that even political ads run by influencers will not be allowed on the platform, although how that will be monitored is anyone’s guess.