China’s TikTok claims it is expanding its initiatives to combat misinformation and covert influence campaigns leading up to the European Parliament elections in June.
The Hill reports that TikTok announced on Wednesday that it will launch localized “election centers” in every European Union member state next month as part of its strategy to “ensure people can easily separate fact from fiction.” That seems like a tall order for a company controlled by communist China that has already failed to live up to its promises.
According to a blog post by TikTok’s Kevin Morgan, head of safety & integrity for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, these election centers will provide users with “trusted and authoritative information” in collaboration with local electoral commissions and civil society groups.
This new measure is one part of a broader effort by TikTok to maintain its platform as a “creative, safe, and civil place” amid the high-stakes parliamentary elections. TikTok currently employs over 6,000 content moderators focused on detecting and removing misinformation and covert influence campaigns in the EU.
The company also partners with several European fact-checking organizations to label unverified claims and promote media literacy among its users. Additionally, TikTok has strict rules governing content created using artificial intelligence.
As the U.S. gears up for the 2024 presidential election, President Biden’s campaign has embraced TikTok despite the China-owned company drawing scrutiny from lawmakers concerned about data privacy, national security, and the app’s ties to its Beijing-based parent company ByteDance. TikTok is currently banned on federal government devices.
Breitbart News reported on the move by the Biden administration, writing:
President Joe Biden has officially joined the Chinese app TikTok in an effort to reach younger voters. The president uploaded his first TikTok video on Sunday, alongside the caption, “lol hey guys.”
In the first video uploaded to the Biden-Harris campaign TikTok account, @bidenhq, President Biden can be seen answering softball questions during the Super Bowl LVIII game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
After being asked by an aide, “Chiefs or Niners?” Biden replies, “Two great quarterbacks. It’s hard to decide, but if I didn’t say I was for the Eagles, then I’d be sleeping alone. My wife’s a Philly girl.”
The aide then asks a question that appears to play into the theory that pop star Taylor Swift’s relationship with Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce is part of a plot to rig the NFL’s championship game and help get Biden re-elected in November.
“Deviously plotting to rig the season so the Chiefs would make the Super Bowl or the Chiefs just being a good football team?” the aide asks, to which Biden replies, “I’d get in trouble if I told you.”
After that, an image of Biden with beaming red laser eyes flashes across the screen, in reference to the “Dark Brandon” meme that the president’s campaign has decided to embrace.
Read more at The Hill here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
