TikTok curbs state-affiliated media amid foreign influence fears
Al Jazeera
Video-sharing app says state-backed accounts will not be recommended or allowed to advertise outside home countries.
TikTok, the popular video-sharing app, has announced new curbs on state-affiliated media amid concerns about foreign interference in a major election year.
The Chinese-owned platform said on Thursday that state-affiliated media accounts would no longer be recommended in users’ feeds or allowed to advertise to audiences outside their home countries.
“This is an additional measure to prevent accounts from attempting to reach wider communities on these topics,” TikTok said in a statement.
TikTok said it would also introduce a new dedicated Transparency Report on covert influence operations and disclose more information about operations it has previously removed.
During the first four months of 2024, TikTok identified and disrupted 15 influence operations and 3,001 associated accounts, including campaigns related to Indonesia’s presidential election and political discussions in the UK, it said.
