Cape Town - One of the world's largest social media platforms, TikTok, says it won’t be accepting any political party advertisements or any money for advertisements from political parties ahead of the May 29 elections as this is done to protect its integrity.
Citing concerns over election integrity and national security, American lawmakers last week voted on a bill that would ban TikTok for users in that country.
TikTok said it does allow people to express their freedom of speech; however, it won’t tolerate harmful information. It also won’t allow any political party to raise funds via its platform, it said.
At a media engagement, TikTok talked about its recently launched initiatives in partnership with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and civil society organisations to combat misinformation and ensure that users have access to trusted and authoritative information.
These initiatives “are just one element of our ongoing and long-standing commitments to maintaining the platform’s integrity”, it said.
Fortune Mgwili-Sibanda, TikTok government relations and public director, said anyone of any persuasion can join the platform, young and old; they are free to create content, but within the bounds, and those bounds are the community guidelines.
“When it comes to political parties, we do not allow them to do paid campaigns on the platform. That is not allowed. We don’t take advertising money from political parties or the government for paid political campaigns,” said Mgwili-Sibanda.
“We also do not even allow them to fundraise on the platform.
“So some of the features that creators have access to, such as going live, gifting, and stuff like that for political accounts or related political-related accounts, we do not allow.
“We turn off those features, so this is one of our ways in which we are dealing with disinformation.”
Ahead of the elections, TikTok will launch a new media literacy resource in collaboration with Africa Check and include sign language content.
Mgwili-Sibanda said that, in partnership with the IEC and leading civil society organisations, TikTok’s in-app election centre represents a pivotal step towards safeguarding the integrity of the electoral process.
“Our in-app election centre has authoritative information about the South African elections from the IEC.
“To maximise the visibility and accessibility of our in-app centre, we have implemented labels on content ASSOCIATED WITH THE GENERAL ELECtions.
“These labels also serve as direct links to the centre, enabling viewers to access comprehensive information about the elections with a simple click.
“Additionally, we will facilitate access to popular election hashtags, ensuring that users searching for related content can effortlessly find and engage with relevant information,” said Mgwili-Sibanda.
Sy Mamabolo, chief electoral officer at the IEC, said: “The burgeoning use of digital media in recent years has seen a corresponding surge in digital disinformation, particularly on social media platforms.
“Electoral processes have not been spared. Left unchecked, this phenomenon stands to undermine the conduct of credible elections.
“We applaud TikTok for its efforts in educating the TikTok community and combating the potential spread of harmful misinformation.”
Cape Argus