TikTok is setting itself apart from other social media platforms by offering refuge to those who may not want to be bombarded with paid political advertisements during campaign seasons.
TikTok Refuses To Be A Political Battleground During Election Season
On Oct. 3, Thursday, Blake Chandlee, VP of Global Business Solutions, wrote in a blog post that political ads do not fit in with the experience that the fourth largest social media platform wants to offer to its growing userbase around the world.
"While we explore ways to provide value to brands, we're intent on always staying true to why users uniquely love the TikTok platform itself: for the app's light-hearted and irreverent feeling that makes it such a fun place to spend time," wrote Chandlee, who recently joined the company. "Any paid ads that come into the community need to fit the standards for our platform, and the nature of paid political ads is not something we believe fits the TikTok platform experience."
The ban is not entirely new to the platform. Rather, it reiterates what is already stated in the app's existing policies on prohibited content.
The company told Tech Crunch that the decision to address its policy on paid political ads was made to be transparent, especially with the growing interest to advertise on the platform.
The move further sets TikTok apart from other social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat — all of which allow political ads. Facebook previously announced that it will impose stricter rules on political ads after it caught advertisers misleading internet users on who was funding them.
Chandlee previously worked at Facebook.
TikTok 's Past Political Scandals
However, despite its stance against paid political advertisement, TikTok and its developer, the Beijing-based ByteDance Technology Co., have landed in hot waters.
Earlier this year, the Indian government temporarily banned the app over concerns that it is being used to spread malicious content as well as for widespread cyberbullying. The ban was lifted in April.
ByteDance was also criticized for reportedly censoring content that feature anti-government protests in Hong Kong and removing any mentions of Tiananmen Square, Tibetan independence, and the religious group Falun Gong.
