TikTok adds new rules for politicians’ accounts ahead of midterms | gadget

TikTok is adding for accounts belonging to politicians, government officials and political parties before the midterm elections. The company says it will require these accounts to go through a “mandatory” verification process and restrict their access to advertising and other revenue-generating features.

Until now, verification for politicians and other officials was completely optional. But that is now changing, at least in the United States, as TikTok prepares for the midterm elections this fall. In a blog post, the company says the update is meant to help it enforce its rules, which prohibit political advertising of any kind, more consistently.

By verifying your accounts, TikTok will be able to prevent politicians and political parties from accessing the platform’s advertising tools or other revenue-generating features, such as tips. Accounts will also be excluded from company creation fund payouts and in-app purchase features.

TikTok says it also plans to add more restrictions that will prevent politicians and political parties from using the platform to solicit campaign contributions or other donations, including on external websites. That policy, which goes into effect “in the coming weeks,” will ban videos that direct viewers to third-party fundraising sites. It also means that politicians will not be able to post videos asking for donations.

The new policies are the latest piece of TikTok’s strategy to prepare for the . The company has already started implementing an Elections Hub in the app to highlight voting resources and details about local races. But enforcing its ban on political ads has proven challenging for TikTok, which has had to deal with creator branded content. The new rules don’t address that problem specifically, but the added restrictions on campaigns and politicians will make it harder for candidates and other officials to get around its rules.