TikTok, of all places, is banning political advertising from its platform

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TikTok is setting itself apart from U.S.-based social media platforms by banning political ads on its service. That’s in stark contrast to major players like Facebook and Instagram, who presumably make bank from selling its ad space to the candidate with the most coffers.

The Chinese-owned TikTok wasn’t running political ads, to begin with, but now the policy has been publicly announced.

TikTok is banning political ads from its service

TikTok says it wants to keep “a home for creative expression” with its “eclectic range of short videos offer[ing] a truly joyful experience.” Doesn’t sound like room for any political ads to me. I mean, when did you last see Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders throw down some sick memes?

Instead, it wants to keep paid advertising relevant to the content, like brand partnerships. Those will include:

• In-feed video ads
• Launch screen ads
• Native ads like hashtag challenges

With the rest of social media trying to get all the cash it can, TikTok banning political ads is a breath of fresh air (even if they have done some questionable things in the past).

The ad guidelines seem to be U.S.-only though, so maybe they just don’t want to be accused of meddling in U.S. elections, like Facebook was accused of in 2016.

What do you think? Glad to see TikTok making this move? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.