USA: TikTok will ban fundraising and require verification for politicians

TikTok on Wednesday began requiring “mandatory verification” for political accounts based in the United States and will ban all political fundraising.

The changes could affect how many of the company’s millions of US users engage with political content ahead of this year’s election.

The effort to verify political accounts began on an experimental basis and applies to governments, politicians and political parties.

The fundraising ban, meanwhile, will take effect in the coming weeks and is part of a broader move to clamp down on politicians’ ability to monetize the platform.

Parties and politicians will not be able to ask TikTok users for donations or refer them to fundraising sites, the company said.

Future updates will include locks for political accounts to use other monetization features.

“Specifically, they will not have access to features such as gifts, tips and e-commerce, and they will not be eligible for our Creators Fund,” said Blake Chandlee, president of global business solutions at TikTok.

TikTok already prohibits political advertising in its guidelines, but to further enforce the rule, the platform will now remove all advertising tools entirely from accounts owned by politicians and political parties.

The app has grown in popularity with politicians trying to reach voters, such as Representative Tim Ryan and Senators Bernie Sanders and Ed Markey.