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TikTok introduces in-app election guide to fight misinformation

The guide will direct users to information about candidates, voting and media literacy.

TikTok

TikTok is the latest social media app to push educational resources about voting and the upcoming election in an effort to stop misinformation from spreading. The app introduced a new election guide that will highlight “trusted information about the elections” to its 100 millions users in the United States.

The guide is meant “to provide easy access to authoritative information as we continue our work to protect against misinformation,” TikTok’s VP of Public Policy Michael Beckerman wrote in a statement. Like Facebook’s voter education efforts, it will direct users to information about candidates and how to vote in their state.

The election guide will appear in the app's Discover page.
The election guide will appear in the app's Discover page. (TikTok)

But TikTok notes that its efforts are also meant to help combat misinformation. In addition to election-related organizations like BallotReady, which provides details on candidates, the company has partnered with digital literacy organization MediaWise to surface videos on media literacy and how to spot misinformation.

The guide will show up on TikTok’s Discover page and in “election-related” search results. It will also be featured “at the bottom of videos relating to the elections and on videos from verified political accounts” as a “preemptive measure,” Beckerman said.

The update isn’t the first time the app has attempted to shore up its policies around misinformation ahead of the election. TikTok also introduced new rules banning deepfakes and opened a virtual transparency and accountability center to help outsiders better understand its policies.