TikTok says it has updated its policies to curb misinformation on its video-sharing app ahead of the US election in November.
Now the app, which has come under radar by the Trump administration over national security concerns because of their Chinese ownership. Now they said it was working with experts from the Department of Homeland Security to ‘protect against foreign influence’.
The video-sharing app announced the policy changes via a blog post on Wednesday.
TikTok also said it would expand partnerships with PolitiFact and Lead Stories to fact-check potential misinformation about the election.
It will even allow users to report vote-related misinformation on the app.
‘Millions of Americans come to TikTok every day to express themselves freely and creatively. People on our app value authentic content, and we do too – which is why our teams work diligently to uphold our Community Guidelines and keep misleading, harmful, or deceptive content and accounts off TikTok,’ the company said.
‘To strengthen these efforts, we’re announcing three new measures to combat misinformation, disinformation and other content that may be designed to disrupt the 2020 election.’
They also said they will adda specific policy to restict synthetic or manipulated content that misleads users in a way that could cause harm.
In past days, a doctored video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had been viral across social media platforms, including TikTok.
This changes are the latest step by TikTok to deal with misinformation, an issue that major social media companies including Facebook and Twitter have struggled their own platforms.
TikTok owner ByteDance is the first Chinese company to succeed in achieving achieve global success with a consumer app.