The short-form video app TikTok announced on Wednesday that it would start requiring verified accounts for U.S. government agencies, lawmakers, and political parties and would outlaw recordings intended to raise money for political campaigns.
After receiving criticism for years for allowing such content to proliferate on their services, TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, and other social media companies are now taking steps to crack down on political misinformation ahead of the U.S. midterm elections in November.
According to TikTok, political accounts can submit a request for verification, and the business will seek to verify the legitimacy of profiles it thinks are associated with politicians or political parties.
On TikTok and other platforms like Twitter, a verified account is identified by a blue check mark, indicating that the site has validated the account’s ownership.
U.S. politicians have long questioned TikTok’s protections for user data and have called the Chinese-owned app’s practises into question.
Since 2019, the app has prohibited political advertising in an effort to maintain its reputation as a platform for dancing videos and comedy skits.
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