Social media allows people to share content efficiently and quickly in real-time. Applications like Instagram and Facebook have made tremendous impact on people’s lives and have managed to become a routine in everyone’s schedule. However, in recent years, there has been a tremendous rise in deployment of advertisements on such platforms which people are misusing for endorsing bad or immoral propaganda/products.

In order to restrict such activities, social media platforms are reportedly taking stern actions. One such action was taken recently by Chinese video app TikTok when it announced that it would ban all paid political ads on its application.

Speaking on the ban, Blake Chandlee, Vice President of Global Business Solutions, TikTok, said that the company would forbid all those paid ads that oppose or promote a current leader, candidate, political group or party, or issues at the state, local or the federal level.

Developed by ByteDance, TikTok enables users to create and share mini clips with special effects and is seemingly becoming the most trending application in Southeast Asia, including India. The platform has around 500 million active users globally who tune into the app every month.

TikTok has also made some significant development through its new platform EduTok which was launched as an effort to enable TikTok users to develop inspiring content around various themes such as motivation, education, health, wellness and safety. 

Reportedly, the platform is trending lately, with over 42.5 billion views accounted since its inception few months ago.

Speaking on which, Nitin Saluja, Director, Public Policy, TikTok India, said that the new EduTok platform has turned out to become a phenomenon as it focuses on creating an ecosystem that is collaborative and constructive.

He added that, as part of the campaign, the company is also looking at various online and offline collaborations so that its users can have access to a wide range of content and learning opportunities.

Source Credit: https://in.reuters.com/article/us-tiktok-ads/chinese-video-app-tiktok-bans-paid-political-ads-on-its-platform-idINKBN1WI2HI