Although TikTok is in the midst of fighting the Trump administration's attempt to ban its app in the United States over data privacy concerns, the company is today launching a new feature focused on the 2020 U.S. election. TikTok announced this morning that it is introducing an in-app election guide, offering its 100 million US users information on candidates, details on how to vote, and educational videos on disinformation, media literacy, the election process and more.
The company, however, does not produce this content by itself. It is leaving it to partner organizations, including the National Association of Secretaries of State, BallotReady, SignVote and many more.
BallotReady, for example, will feed the election guide with detailed information on candidates at federal, state and local levels, in both English and Spanish. Details on how to vote in each state are offered by the National Association of Secretaries of State. MediaWise will provide educational videos on how to spot disinformation and the election process, as well as how to vote.
The effort will also include resources for voters in various circumstances, TikTok says. This includes information on voting as a person with a disability, from SignVote; like someone abroad, through the federal voting assistance program; as a student with the help of Campus Vote Project; and as a person with past beliefs, with the help of Restore Your Vote.
TikTok will be unveiling this election guide starting today in the United States, where it will be accessible on both the TikTok Discover page and election search results. It will also contain the guide at the bottom of election-related videos and videos posted by verified political candidates, he says.
The company explains in advance that it only verifies accounts to indicate authenticity of account ownership, but the verified badge does not indicate TikTok approval. (The problem of what it means to be verified on a social network is a problem that Twitter has been facing for years, as it distributed its coveted verified badges to controversial figures, such as white nationalists.)
Although TikTok is working with established partners to put together its election guide, the simple act of somehow getting involved in American politics right now is a pretty bold choice on the company's part. As users interact with the new election guide, they may be sharing additional signals about their political tendencies.
In theory, these signals could be used to modify their personalized recommendations, such as those shown on the TikTok For You page, for example. But TikTok may also store this signal data with the user's TikTok account for future use. It's not that different from the way Facebook is able to identify your inclinations by analyzing your profile information or the pages you "liked".
TikTok, however, states that it will not collect users' personal information with the launch of the guide, nor will it use the signals to personalize your experience.
"... A user must visit a state or nonprofit website for anything that involves sharing their information, including registering to vote," the company said in an announcement. "Interactions with this guide in our app have no bearing on future TikTok experiences, such as recommendations or announcements."
Despite the controversies surrounding TikTok ownership, TikTok joins many social networks that offer voter guides or run "quit voting" campaigns in their apps.
Facebook distributed voting resources to US users this August, and Twitter debuted its election hub earlier this month. Snapchat said it helped 400,000 people register to vote. YouTube, meanwhile, recently began adding controlled voting information by mail to counter disinformation along with some features that encourage users to register to vote.
Tinder is also running a promotion in the United States to incentivize voter registration through the use of in-app cards that direct users to online resources.
However, TikTok's voter registration efforts could have an impact due to its younger user base, Gen Z. For decades, young voters haven't turned up to the polls. And every election year, reports ask if this year will be different.
But TikTok users, in particular, have been politically motivated in recent months. Some helped make a joke of Trump's campaign by signing up for tickets to Trump's Tulsa rally, which they didn't intend to use. They also trolled the official Trump campaign app to the point that it eventually had to reset its ratings on the App Store. And many have gone to the app to track their parents' political choices.
It remains to be seen to what extent young TikTok users will go from being armchair activists to real-world voters, if they are also of age. And although the news coverage has focused on left-wing TikToker, the app can easily direct you to the pro-Trump bubble where you'll find plenty of teens with MAGA hats.
Like the rest of the US, teens on TikTok have their own political divisions. This means that even if TikTok is successful in increasing the voter turnout of young people, there is no reason to believe that it will necessarily help influence the vote one way or another.
