TikTok Fails Global Witness’ Test for Detecting False Election Information ads
Tik Tok appears to be the social media platform most likely to allow election disinformation ads slip through. That’s according to an investigation conducted by Global Witness, an organization focused on tracking and mitigating conflicts and abuses related to natural resources and human rights. The report, titled was authored in conjunction with Cybersecurity for Democracy (C4D) team at New York University.
Their investigation studied the ability of Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube’s to identify and mitigate election disinformation as we approach the US midterm elections.
The researchers submitted ads that contained purposely false election details, including an incorrect election date. Others included claims that attempted to discredit the electoral process before it took place. The group also didn’t go through an identity verification process.
TikTok had the worst results. fared the worst. Officially, the platform, doesn’t allow political ads. Yet it approved 90% of submitted ads that contained. false and misleading election claims. Facebook was deemed to be partially successful in detecting and prohibiting incorrect election ads, while YouTube was able to detect the ads and suspend the channel where the ads occured.
Read Global Witness’ full review of their research.
