TikTok has announced that it will ban political fundraising on its app globally, with governments and politicians now blocked from using any monetisation tools on the platform.
While political advertising has already been prohibited on the social media app, this ban on fundraising looks to restrict political accounts even further.
“By prohibiting campaign fundraising and limiting access to our monetization features and verifying accounts, we’re aiming to strike a balance between enabling people to discuss the issues that are relevant to their lives while also protecting the creative, entertaining platform that our community wants,” a TikTok statement said.
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The news comes ahead of midterm elections in the US, with the Chinese-owned app reportedly fearing that it could be accused of foreign interference.
In 2020, Donald Trump suggested that the app – owned by ByteDance – should be completely banned from the US, viewing TikTok as a ‘national security threat’.
In August, the Houses of Parliament deleted its official TikTok account over security concerns. According to a document retrieved by the Business Insider news website, parliamentary officials were “unable to reassure MPs that the company could prevent data transfer to ByteDance, should the parent company make a request for it”.
A TikTok spokesperson claimed that there was no ‘specific’ reason for the app’s latest change.
