On May 23, the short video sharing application TikTok of Bytedance (China) company said it was imposing restrictions on state-related media outlets, to prevent influential actions by abroad through this platform during an important election year in many countries.
TikTok social network icon on phone screen. File photo: THX/TTXVN
Under TikTok’s new policy, state-backed media that seek to reach communities outside their home country about current global events and issues will be banned from appearing on the “For for you” on TikTok. This section is highly personalized, suggesting videos that “suit” each user’s taste. Additionally, if advertising on TikTok, these media outlets cannot advertise outside of the country in which they belong.
TikTok also revealed that in the first four months of this year, the platform identified and blocked 15 influence operations and 3,001 related accounts. Tiktok found that the majority of these accounts sought to influence discussions about political issues among their target groups, including election-related content.
The above move took place in the context of the US recently issuing an “ultimatum” that TikTok must separate from parent company ByteDance, or else it will be eliminated from the US market, citing concerns that this application could be used to affect Americans.