TikTok Bans Paid Political Ads on Its Platform

Chinese video app TikTok said on Thursday it would not allow paid political ads on its platform as they do not fit into the experience it aims to provide to millions of its users. Created by Beijing Bytedance Technology, TikTok allows users to create and share short videos with special effects, and is hugely popular in Southeast Asia, including India.

"We will not allow paid ads that promote or oppose a candidate, current leader, political party or group, or issue at the federal, state, or local level – including election-related ads, advocacy ads, or issue ads," Blake Chandlee, vice president of TikTok's Global Business Solutions said in a blog post.

“For us, it all points back to our mission: to inspire creativity and build joy. We want to ensure we're building a place where our community – users, creators, and brands – can be creative, build trends, and have a whole lot of fun in the process. People come to TikTok because it just feels different from so many other places, and we'll continue to work hard to support that.”

TikTok hit the 500 million mark in monthly active users globally, according to a report in July by the South China Morning Post.

With the presence of celebrities like Ariana Grande and Katy Perry, the platform is a hit among teenagers and post-millennials.

ByteDance, owner of video-sharing app TikTok and one of the world's most valuable unicorns, booked revenue of CNY 50-60 billion ($7 billion to $8.4 billion) in a better-than-expected result for the first half, people familiar with the matter told Reuters last month.

© Thomson Reuters 2019