ISLAMABAD: TikTok on Tuesday announced its decision to uphold and protect election integrity on its platform ahead of the elections on Feb 8.

The initiative underscores TikTok’s commitment to being a responsible and reliable source of information, especially during critical civic events.

With restrictions on certain traditional mode of election canvassing including the wall chalking and limitations on the size of banners, etc., it is expected that the political parties will seriously focus on social media for election campaigning.

TikTok, a short video platform, has also issued its preparedness to combat misinformation, violence and hate speech in line with its Community Guidelines, that are available in English and Urdu languages.

Similar arrangements have been made by other key social media platforms including Facebook and YouTube.

Facebook has already launched an awareness campaign regarding the community safety to protect vulnerable people from online threats and harassment as well as containing the flow of fake and manipulated news.

The campaign, ‘Approach to Protect Election Integrity and Support Community Safety in Pakistan’, by Facebook has been launched as online activities surge manifolds during the elections, while many sections of society including media become targets of harassment, undue criticism as well as online threats.

The platform has announced that it will remove misleading information about civic processes, including voter registration, candidate eligibility, ballot counting, and election results.

TikTok’s policies strictly prohibit content that intimidates voters, suppresses voting, or incites violence.

Over 40,000 personnel globally, in conjunction with advanced technology, are deployed to ensure user safety on the platform, complemented by collaborations with intelligence firms, industry partners, and civil society organisations.

To help counter misinformation, TikTok works with local and regional fact-checkers to help the platform consistently and accurately remove election misinformation. Content under review or identified as unsubstantiated is restricted from the For You Feed recommendation, and both viewers and creators are alerted about the potential misleading nature of such content.

A significant element of TikTok’s strategy is the launch of the Pakistan Election Centre on the platform, available both in English and Urdu.

This hub will direct users to authoritative information on the election, including voting procedures and locations. Enhanced by advanced technology and local language support, the platform is poised to ensure a safe environment free from violations of its community guidelines.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2024