TikTok emphasizes ban on political ads

TikTok will not allow any paid political advertisements on its viral video app, the company said in a Thursday blog post.

The app, which said it is in the early stages of allowing paid advertisements, shared that its “primary focus is on creating an entertaining, genuine experience for our community” and that TikTok users “uniquely love” its “light-hearted and irreverent feeling that makes it such a fun place to spend time.” 

“In that spirit, we have chosen not to allow political ads on TikTok. Any paid ads that come into the community need to fit the standards for our platform, and the nature of paid political ads is not something we believe fits the TikTok platform experience,” TikTok said in the blog post. 

{mosads}“To that end, we will not allow paid ads that promote or oppose a candidate, current leader, political party or group, or issue at the federal, state, or local level — including election-related ads, advocacy ads, or issue ads,” it continued.

TikTok added that “For us, it all points back to our mission: to inspire creativity and build joy.”

A TikTok spokesperson confirmed to The Hill that the post reiterated TikTok’s existing policies and was part of an effort to make them “more publicly visible” and to “increase transparency.” 

TikTok, which rose to popularity among children and teens in the past year, allows users to upload short videos that are typically comical or set to viral songs and dances.

During September 2018, it surpassed Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Snapchat in monthly installs in Apple’s app store, Tech Crunch reported last year.