TikTok has rolled out an update on its election integrity measures, and how it is preparing to tackle the spread of misinformation in the app, which has become a weapon in more recent polls in the world.
According to TikTok:
"With over 2 billion people in more than 50 countries going to the polls this year, we are greatly invested in protecting the integrity of elections on TikTok.". We've protected our platform over 150 elections conducted during the last four years, and today we're sharing an overview of our continued investment to ensure that TikTok remains a place of creativity, safety, and civil discourse for our community in this historic elections year.

For one, it has planned to introduce election centers for every major poll that will not only include critical information from recognized providers but will also work on rectifying misinformation.
TikTok said it will partner with electoral commissions and fact-checking organizations around the world to develop the in-app election hubs, featuring relevant information for voters.

Our local Election Centers connected over 55 million voters globally last year. Next week we are launching our US Elections Center, in partnership with nonprofit Democracy Works. The Center will provide accurate voting information for all 50 states and Washington, D.C. to our community of 150M+ U.S. users.

The idea is that, by providing a central vetted space for election information, that will allow users a place to verify reports, but also provide critical updates.
TikTok says it'll send users to relevant elections centres via prompts on relevant election content and searches.

The company further maintains that: "Where fact-checking has become a more contentious element of election discourse, we will continue to collaborate with leading independent fact-checking organizations globally, working together to deliver engaging media literacy campaigns about misinformation, identifying AI-generated content, and more.".

The latter, particularly, will soon be an even bigger issue in 2024, as no one has any idea what kind of blow this form of generative AI is going to deal to the discourses around elections.

Several American politicians have used the generative AI capabilities, such as simulated visuals, video, and audio, to insinuate things never done, and otherwise smear opponents.

In this regard, it was the first platform to set the rules about the labeling of AI-generated content and is also working with a diversity of experts to navigate the new risks of AI.

In addition, TikTok will require all government-related, politician, and political party accounts to be verified in the app for an additional layer of assurance and trust, where it will also continue tagging content that its fact-checkers deem unverified throughout the app.
We're working with 17 fact-checking organizations across the globe, evaluating content in more than 50 different languages, so our moderators can apply our misinformation policies accordingly. We added three new global fact-checking partners in 2023, and will continue to expand our fact-checking program this year.

Ultimately, TikTok is looking to roll out a new "covert influence operations report", in an effort to view the outside perspective of those threats and how it's working to counter each.

Which remains a major concern. Just yesterday, Google has outlined how a Russian-based hacking group continues to push its influence operations across different foreign regions. Chinese-originated operations also continue to probe adversarial groups, and with major initiatives like this still seeking to sway voters, they do require particular attention and oversight as their tactics continue to shift.

However, in like manner, many view TikTok itself as a threat. That is why the app continues to face official scrutiny in various regions and that is why specific efforts from TikTok to election integrity are so important.

Any perceived bias will be amplified in the case of TikTok and viewed through the lens of the Chinese Government's perceived influence on the app.

Which remains an existential threat, but for now at least, TikTok is saying all the right things and is taking more measures to protect elections around the world.