The fastest-growing social media platform on the planet is taking steps to ensure its community can escape the worries of the world for a few minutes.
TikTok has become the first major social media platform to ban all political and advocacy advertising. The news comes not long after the app came under fire for adhering to Chinese foreign policy by censoring certain topics. Pro-LGBT and the Hong Kong protests are just two topics the app has been working to censor. The upcoming US presidential election is likely another.
Blake Chandlee — TikTok’s VP of Global Business Solutions — says advertising needs to fit with the platform.
“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.
To that end, we will not allow paid ads that promote or oppose a candidate, current leader, political party or group or issue at the federal, state or local level — including election-related ads, advocacy ads or issue ads.”
TikTok is unique in the world of social media. While the vast majority of companies in the social space hail from America, TikTok started in China. The app was called Douyin at launch, which means ‘vibrating sound,’ but was changed to TikTok in 2018 when the it was made available in other countries.
In addition to having a different name outside of China, TikTok also existed on different servers than Douyin, which was necessary to comply with strict Chinese censorship laws.
As TikTok became a global phenomenon, advertisers took notice. The app offers in-feed video ads, launch screen ads, and sponsored hashtag challenges. The TikTok Creator Marketplace recently launched to connect brands with TikTok creators for their marketing campaigns.
However, as political tensions around the world rise, TikTok is making the smart decision to remove itself from all conversations. The platform understands its young username is susceptible to the messaging its advertisers share. By rejecting all political and advocacy advertising the company is maintaining a space for fun and self-expression that cannot be accused of leaning one way or another on hot button topics.
