Op-Ed: TikTok, the new arena for election disinformation

ISD Senior Analyst Ciarán O’Connor wrote an op-ed for the Irish Examiner on the different ways TikTok is being weaponised during election periods in countries all around the world.

In addition to dances and viral trends, the platform is also a space “where history is rewritten, political wars are waged and deceptive, misleading and outright false narratives are shaped, seeded and spread far and wide”, Ciarán says.

“In short, disinformation runs rife on TikTok. The platform is now central to election campaigns globally and will inevitably play a starring role in elections closer to home here too, so it is worth joining the dots to explore how TikTok is a new arena for election disinformation”.

The platform is being used “exactly as designed”, but without any transparency on the algorithm, there are many issues arising in the attempt to stop the spread of disinformation.

To read the full article, click here.