What are TikTok’s plans to counter election misinformation this year?

With a big election year kicking off in 2024, many are turning to social media companies to see what they will do to counteract the spread of mis- and disinformation on their platforms. TikTok this week released its plan for doing so, and it’s not very different from what we saw during the 2022 election cycle.

The company will be bringing back its in-app election guide that directs users to legitimate information sources on voting. While this year’s guide is similar to the ones seen in previous election cycles, this one is being launched earlier than its predecessors. TikTok will also be barring political ads and working with fact-checking organizations to determine if content needs a recommendation or “unverified” label.

One significant change the company is making in its approach this year is that it plans to release detailed reports on covert influence campaigns that it uncovers. While it has released similar reports in the past, they were less frequent and had few details. And while TikTok noted that the introduction of generative AI has created new challenges around false or misleading information, it did not release any election policies that specifically addressed the technology. Instead, it will continue to enforce its current rules on AI that require creators to disclose when content uses realistic AI-generated elements and prohibits misleading AI-generated content.