USA-ELECTIONS/TIKTOK:USA-TikTok to tighten control of political publications ahead of midterm elections
Aug 17 (Reuters) - TikTok announced measures on Wednesday to stop content creators from posting paid political messages on the video app, as part of its preparations for the U.S. midterm elections in November.
Critics and authorities accuse TikTok and competing social networks, including Meta Platforms and Twitter, of not doing enough to prevent political misinformation on their apps.
While TikTok in 2019 banned the purchase of political ads since 2019, campaign strategists circumvented the ban by paying influencers for promotions.
The company is seeking to close this loophole by holding briefings with creators and talent agencies to remind them that posting paid political content is prohibited, said Eric Han, head of US security at TikTok, during a briefing with journalists.
He added that internal teams will monitor for signs that creators are being paid to post political content, and that the company will also rely on media and partner reports to find infringing posts and remove them.
TikTok released the new metrics after similar Meta and Twitter updates.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said Tuesday it would block political advertisers from running new posts a week before the election.
Last week, Twitter said it planned to revive earlier strategies for the midterm election, including placing labels in front of some misleading tweets and inserting trustworthy information into timelines.
According to civil rights and voting experts, these measures are not sufficient to prepare for the election.