Social network TikTok approved adverts containing political disinformation ahead of European polls, a report showed Tuesday, flouting its own guidelines and raising questions about its ability to detect election falsehoods.
International campaign group Global Witness created 16 ads targeting Irish audiences with false information about this week's EU elections and tried to get them approved by three platforms — TikTok, Google-owned YouTube and Elon Musk's X.
TikTok, which is particularly popular with young voters, approved all 16 for publication, YouTube caught 14 while X filtered all the ads and suspended the group's fake accounts, Global Witness said in its report.