Giant Chinese social media TikTok is bringing political ads of any form to an end on its platform. The short-form video sharing app will no longer accommodate ads from politicians or candidates at any level of government because “the nature of paid political ads is not something we believe fits the TikTok platform experience,” TikTok’s VP of global business solutions, Blake Chandlee, announced in a blog post Thursday.
The ban includes “election-related ads, advocacy ads, or issue ads.” TikTok is protecting its platform from numerous political ads flooding online at this time. The app is entertainment oriented as users log on to TikTok to post silly lip-sync videos or their take on the newest trending hashtag, and if politics are mentioned it’s usually in reference to whatever’s the latest viral meme.
While TikTok has only begun experimenting with paid ad formats, Chandlee wrote that, throughout the process, the company is committed to preserving “the app’s light-hearted and irreverent feeling” that makes users want to spend their time there in the first place. Political ads often loaded with barbs aimed at tearing down opposing candidates just don’t vibe with that.
“For us, it all points back to our mission: to inspire creativity and build joy,” Chandlee wrote. “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.”