With the date of the UK general election now officially set, TikTok has announced a new dedicated in-app election centre, where Provide users with trustworthy, authoritative information before they vote.
As with other elections, TikTok is seeking to dispel misinformation and manipulation by providing official information through dedicated in-app resources.
As the TikTok description states:
“we Logical Facts“Working with our fact-checking partner, TikTok, we provide media literacy tips alongside important election and voting information from the Electoral Commission. On TikTok, people will be directed to our comprehensive election centre through prompts and labels when searching for relevant election content or anything election-related. We took a similar approach during the recent local elections in England and Wales and are pleased to have connected hundreds of thousands of users to our local election centres.”
According to TikTok, most of the UK’s politicians are on the platform. England@British Conservatives and @LDP I recently created a new account.
“In the run up to this election, around 100 MPs already have TikTok accounts, with Labour’s Zara Sultana and the Conservative Party’s Dr Luke Evans being some of the most popular. UK news organisations are also reaching new audiences through our platform.” Daily Mail Currently, he has over 10 million followers across his TikTok channels. Sky News 5.9 million people, BBC The news accounts have 5.8 million followers overall, ITV News There are 3 million, Sun, 2000000. “
Given that the majority of TikTok users in the UK are between the ages of 15 and 24, it remains to be seen how influential TikTok will be as an election source of information. UK citizens under the age of 24 are statistically the least likely to vote, but at the same time, UK users spend a lot of time on the app, and this cohort also includes many first-time voters, so it could well be a valuable platform to connect about important issues ahead of the polls.
And clearly the major political parties are taking TikTok’s opportunity seriously, with some suggesting this could be the first “TikTok election” in which trends born from the app sway public opinion.
That’s why it’s important that TikTok take further steps to protect the integrity of our elections and provide trusted resources for those seeking more information.
TikTok will also be implementing additional moderation measures over the coming weeks to detect AI manipulation and other forms of influence manipulation.
