TikTok‘s data security and user safety practices have earned it a heap of scrutiny from the European Union, but its latest action could provide some assurances for continental regulators. An in-app Election Centre will serve users in 27 E.U. member states during the 2024 election cycle.
The E.U.’s Digital Services Act, enacted in 2022 threatens social media platforms with fines if they fail to remove offensive content in a timely fashion. As TikTok looks to comply with that dictate, it is taking steps to enforce its policies against misinformation and misleading AI-generated content. In a blog post, TikTok said that it employs 6,000 moderators for content in E.U. languages.
TikTok has also partnered with nine fact-checking organizations across the continent, and it launched media literacy campaigns in 18 European countries in 2023. Nine more of those campaigns are on the docket for 2024.
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Visitors to the Election Centre will be able to access “trusted information” in their local language. As part of its effort to lead users away from incorrect info, TikTok is taking them directly to the primary sources.
“TikTok is an entertainment platform defined by the diversity of our community and the content they enjoy. To that end, many European leaders, ministers, and political parties are on the platform, including approx. 30% of Members of European Parliament (MEPs),” reads the blog post. “We believe that verified accounts belonging to politicians and institutions provide the electorate with another route to access their representatives, and additional trusted voices in the shared fight against misinformation.”
The European Election Centre has been developed alongside its American counterpart, which TikTok is bringing back for the 2024 presidential election cycle. Last month, the app announced its plan for “protecting election integrity” in America. The U.S. Election Center, launched in tandem with nonprofit Democracy Works, includes voting information for residents in all 50 states.
The U.S. government has struggled to agree on the course it should take to check TikTok’s growing influence among its user base, but the regulatory efforts in the E.U. have been far more decisive. The Digital Services Act has led to the rollout of a depersonalized TikTok algorithm, challenges to ad blocker bans, and lawsuits from TikTok and Meta related to the Act’s funding mechanism. TikTok’s significant investment in European staff and resources can help it comply with the E.U.’s strict rulebook.
European elections slated for 2024 include presidential contests in E.U. member states like Finland and Lithuania and parliamentary showdowns in Portugal and Belgium. A European Parliament election is set for June.
