A recent report released by Mozilla Tiktok Tiktokzakrzewski revealed the app TikTok, which is used mostly by adolescents, has many influencers who have undisclosed relationships with third-party ad agencies and brands. These actors then post posts on their personal accounts to promote a company’s specific product. After this discovery, TikTok banned political ads in 2019.
The report was done by Mozilla and is called “Political Disinformation Online: How Artificial Intelligence Tools Can Help”. The report states that TikTok influencers have posted political videos sponsored by brands and companies. In some cases, these influencers did not disclose their relationship with the brand or company. Some influencers post videos on their personal accounts and do not disclose that they are being paid to do so by the brand or company. The report goes on to state that many of these influencers have undisclosed relationships and received hidden payments to influence people.
Mozilla stated it has been studying political disinformation online since 2017. It stated, “In many cases, we found the same reviewers with relationships to different brands or companies, which often operated under different names. In other cases, the influencers had relationships with very different brands or companies. Some of these relationships are disclosed to us while others remain undisclosed.”
Mozilla created an artificial intelligence tool called Bot Watch that “seeks to identify fake influencers (also known as “influencer fraud”) who masquerade as real people online. The tool analyzes the content posted by these accounts and the political messaging associated with each account. It is then able to connect these influencers to brands or companies in the form of payments.” The company stated that it is in the process of releasing a new report due in October.
After examining these relationships, Mozilla stated “In many cases, we found the same reviewers with relationships to different brands or companies, which often operated under different names. In other cases, the influencers had relationships with very different brands or companies. Some of these relationships are disclosed to us while others remain undisclosed. In many cases, the influencers had relationships with third-party ad agencies and brands which often operated under different names. In other cases, the influencers had relationships with very different brands or companies. Some of these relationships are disclosed to us while others remain undisclosed.”
In an email sent to Teen Vogue, a representative from Mozilla Tiktok Tiktokzakrzewski said: “Anadolu Kule Group is an independent media agency that provides digital services for advertisers such as paying for social media posts and content sharing. They are not directly employed by TikTok.” The representative continued to say, “There are many different advertising channels on TikTok. Some influencers are endorsed by a brand and then compensated to post updates on TikTok that help the brand achieve its marketing goals. Other influencers represent themselves and do not receive compensation for their posts.”
TikTok has over 1 billion users worldwide. The app is most popular among 15-24 year olds. Given its popularity, the app has been a platform for many types of influencers and cultural creators. The influencers can make millions of dollars due to their high follower counts. TikTok has over 100 million users in the United States alone.
Recently, political ads were banned on TikTok due to concerns about disinformation in political ads by Chinese companies. The company announced that “paid or sponsored content” will no longer be allowed on its platform as this type of advertising could have political implications.
