TikTok has announced its intention to ban political fundraising on its social media platform.
TikTok is one of the world’s most popular social media platforms and has had an oversized impact on all other platforms. As a result, when it makes a change, the effects can be felt across the industry. Its latest policy is sure to have ripple effects, with the company banning political fundraising.
The company announced the change in a blog post:
TikTok has long prohibited political advertising, including both paid ads on the platform and creators being paid directly to make branded content. We currently do that by prohibiting political content in an ad, and we’re also now applying restrictions at an account level. This means accounts belonging to politicians and political parties will automatically have their access to advertising features turned off, which will help us more consistently enforce our existing policy.
The company does allow for exceptions in situations for the public good.
We recognize that there will be occasions where governments may need access to our ads services, such as to support public health and safety and access to information, like advertising COVID-19 booster campaigns. We will continue to allow government organizations to advertise in limited circumstances, and they will be required to be working with a TikTok representative.
Additionally, we will be prohibiting these accounts from accessing other monetization features. Specifically, they will not have access to features like gifting, tipping, and e-commerce, and will be ineligible for our Creator Fund. These changes, along with our existing ban on political advertising, mean that accounts belonging to governments, politicians, and political parties will largely not be able to give or receive money through TikTok’s monetization features, or spend money promoting their content.
The move is a bold one and sure to draw praise and criticism.