A new investigation by campaign group Global Witness has revealed that video-sharing platform TikTok approved several ads containing disinformation about voting in the upcoming General Election. The group submitted 28 ads, including 14 in English and 14 in Irish, that featured false claims about the election process.
Of the 28 ads, TikTok approved three in English and eight in Irish. The disinformation contained in the ads included fake claims such as voters needing to provide proof of two COVID-19 vaccinations to vote, the possibility of voting by post after the polls have closed, and the ability to cast votes via Facebook.
Global Witness withdrew the ads before they were published, but the investigation raises concerns over TikTok’s content moderation system, particularly regarding its handling of the Irish language. According to TikTok’s most recent transparency report under the EU Digital Services Act, the platform does not have dedicated moderators for the Irish language.
Ava Lee, Campaign Lead for Digital Threats at Global Witness, criticized the platform, saying, “Social media platforms have a responsibility to keep elections safe. As more and more people get their news from their social media feeds, the least platforms should do is ensure that this content is free from the most obvious forms of disinformation.”
In response to the findings, TikTok told Global Witness that the ads violated its advertising policies and that the company had launched an investigation into why some of the ads were not initially flagged. A TikTok spokesperson clarified that while the ads may have passed initial moderation, they would have gone through additional stages of review if they had gained significant engagement or been flagged by users once live.
“None of these ads ever appeared on TikTok, and the majority were correctly rejected at the first stage of moderation,” the spokesperson stated. The company also reiterated its policy of banning political advertising on the platform and highlighted its launch of an in-app election center to provide users with official election information.
Despite TikTok’s assurances, the investigation underscores ongoing concerns about the effectiveness of content moderation systems on social media platforms, particularly in preventing the spread of misinformation around elections.
