TikTok joins forces with EC to tackle election misinformation
TikTok, the world's leading short video platform, has launched "Election Centre”, partnering the Election Commission of Thailand, aimed at combating misinformation and harmful content so that Thai citizens can exercise their rights effectively in the upcoming general election.
TikTok Thailand's head of Public Policy, Chanida Klyphun, said at the launch on Friday that the Election Centre would help connect users with credible information about voting processes, candidates, and more.
The centre would allow TikTok to serve as a portal to the EC's official website, the sole regulator of the elections, bringing legitimate information to TikTok users, she said.
"We believe it is an important step towards reducing misinformation during Thailand's general election on May 14. Our collaboration [with the EC] will help strengthen our collective efforts to combat misinformation and protect our platform from harmful misuse," she noted.
In order to effectively combat misinformation, TikTok has partnered with COFACT, Thailand's collaborative fact-checking online platform, to prevent the spreading of false information.
Chanida said that the centre was created as a point of contact to direct the community to legitimate sources of information about the general election.
The three key features of the Election Centre are: easy access, an information hub, and an election report button.
The Election Centre is easily accessible via the For You Page by clicking the live banner that appears when users watch or search for election-related keywords, she explained.
The Information Hub offers a dedicated election guide and useful information for both first-time and returning voters. The EC and COFACT have collaborated to create educational videos that help users distinguish misinformation.
The Election Report Button will enable users to combat hate speech, harmful behaviour, and misinformation, including election-related misinformation.
"A warning will appear as a reminder to reconsider videos that users are going to share in order to remind people about TikTok Community Guidelines and to verify facts before sharing," she noted.
EC secretary-general Sawaeng Boonmee said the collaboration would help raise awareness and educate voters and Thai citizens about the electoral process and the elections.
“We hope that this important collaboration will help us reach out to all Thai people and to every generation, especially TikTok users. We want to make sure that they access only credible and verifiable information about the upcoming election in Thailand,” he said.
TikTok, which was launched in 2016, has grown to become one of the most popular social apps and video platforms for global users.
According to TikTok’s internal data, the platform has 1.05 billion active users spread across 154 countries as of March 2023. The platform was used by 30.25% of the world's internet users, with over 3 billion people downloading TikTok to date.
TikTok is now the world's sixth most popular social media platform, according to Demand Sage, a sales and marketing intelligence data intelligence startup.
