Tik Tok will begin requiring accounts belonging to US government departments, politicians and political parties to be verified and will ban videos aimed at campaign fundraising, the short-form video app said on Wednesday.
The move comes as Tik Tok, owned by China’s Byte Dance, and other social media platforms are working to clamp down on political misinformation ahead of the US midterm elections in November, after years of being criticized for allowing such content to flourish on their services.
Political accounts can submit a request for verification, Tik Tok said, and the company will also work to confirm the authenticity of profiles it believes belong to politicians or political parties.
A verified account, indicated by a blue check mark on Tik Tok and other platforms like Twitter, means the platform has confirmed the ownership of the account. Tik Tok has long faced scrutiny from US lawmakers, who have questioned the Chinese-owned app’s safeguards of user data.
The app has also sought to preserve its image as a place for dance videos and comedy skits, and has banned political advertising since 2019. To help enforce the ban, accounts belonging to politicians and parties will automatically be prevented from accessing advertising features, Tik Tok said in a blog post.
Tik Tok said it will update its policies to prohibit campaign fundraising. Content that will be banned under the new policy includes videos from politicians soliciting donations or political parties directing users to make a donation on their website.
The accounts will also be prohibited from using money-making features available to influencers on the app, like digital payments and gifting.
