TikTok, a social media platform owned by ByteDance, said on Wednesday it would launch local language apps in all 27 countries ahead of European Parliament elections in June as it steps up efforts to combat fake news and covert influence operations. TikTok said the various local language "election hubs" build on work it first launched in 2021 and accelerated last year when Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and Spain went to the polls.
The application is designed to give European residents a better understanding of the electoral process.
Governments and politicians around the world are concerned about the spread of disinformation and the use of artificial intelligence-generated deepfakes to influence elections, particularly the role of social media platforms. About 30% of European Parliament members use TikTok, the company said.
"Next month, we will roll out local language election hubs in the app for each of the 27 EU member states to ensure people can easily distinguish fact from fiction," TikTok's head of trust and safety for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Kevin Morgan, said in a blog post. "In partnership with local election boards and civil society organizations, these election centers will be places where our communities can find trusted and authoritative information."
During national elections in previous years, the company worked with the News Checker to produce educational videos about the election process and misinformation through the Election Center.
Morgan said TikTok is currently working with nine fact-checking organizations in Europe and plans to expand its fact-checking network and launch nine more media literacy campaigns this year.
It will roll out dedicated reporting on covert influence operations in the coming months to increase transparency and accountability.