ByteDance's short video sharing app TikTok issued a ban on Wednesday prohibiting "misleading information" that could harm its community or the public.
TikTok wrote in the new guidelines: "We remove misinformation that could cause harm to an individual’s health or wider public safety. We also remove content distributed by disinformation campaigns."
Data from market research company Sensor Tower shows that TikTok and its domestic application Douyin have been downloaded more than 1.5 billion times, of which 680 million are downloaded in 2019.
TikTok's previous provisions on "misleading content" appear to be primarily targeted at fraud, prohibiting users from creating false identities or posting false information to make money, but it does not mention false information or rumor-making activities.
In contrast, the new rules explicitly prohibit "misleading information designed to incite fear, hatred, or prejudice", "misleading information about medical care", and "content that misleads community members in elections or other civil procedures".
On Monday, local time, Facebook announced a new policy that bans deepfakes and other manipulated media.
