TikTok and IEC launch Election Centre ahead of South Africa’s local elections

With South Africa’s local government elections less than a month away, TikTok and the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) have teamed up on a new in-app Election Centre aimed at helping voters navigate election information and avoid misinformation.

The feature is designed to put official election information closer to where millions of South Africans are already consuming news, political content and campaign material.

It also comes as artificial intelligence makes it increasingly difficult for users to tell the difference between authentic content and digitally manipulated or AI-generated material.

What is TikTok’s Election Centre?

The Election Centre will provide TikTok users with information about important election dates, voting procedures and other aspects of the electoral process.

The platform has also built an AI media literacy hub into the initiative.

The hub provides guidance on how to identify AI-generated content, use artificial intelligence responsibly and understand how TikTok deals with AI-generated material posted on its platform.

Election-related labels and search banners will also direct users to the Election Centre, allowing them to access the information without having to leave the app.

TikTok’s Government Relations and Public Policy Lead for Southern Africa, Tholoana Ncheke-Mahlaela, said the initiative was intended to support informed participation.

The company said it wants users to have access to reliable election information while also creating a safer environment for political discussions.

IEC backs TikTok election partnership

The IEC welcomed the partnership, saying access to accurate information is becoming increasingly important as voters turn to social media and other digital platforms for election-related information.

IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said voters need trusted resources that are easy to access, particularly as misinformation becomes a growing challenge online.

According to the IEC, the Election Centre will connect TikTok users with official information about the electoral process and help support informed participation.

The partnership also gives the IEC another channel through which it can reach voters ahead of the 4 November election.

TikTok steps up misinformation monitoring

TikTok said it has established a dedicated elections task force to monitor election-related activity on the platform.

The team includes specialists working across areas such as platform integrity, cybersecurity, misinformation, deceptive behaviour and election integrity.

TikTok’s policies prohibit content that could deliberately mislead voters, interfere with electoral processes, discourage people from voting or encourage unlawful disruption of election outcomes.

The company said it uses a combination of automated moderation technology, local-language moderators and global safety teams to identify and remove content that violates its rules.

TikTok said more than 1.1 million videos were removed in South Africa during the first quarter of 2026 for violating its Community Guidelines.

It said 99.6% of those videos were removed proactively, before users reported them.

Around 90,000 videos were also removed between January and March for violations linked to civic and election integrity, misinformation and harmful AI-generated content.

More than 99% of this election-related content was reportedly detected and removed proactively.

No paid political advertising

TikTok has also reiterated its ban on paid political advertising.

Political parties and politicians cannot pay to advertise on the platform or monetise their accounts under TikTok’s election policies.

There is, however, an exception for official election management bodies.

Bodies such as the IEC can run adverts containing essential voter information, including details about registration, polling and how to participate in the elections.

TikTok also works with more than 20 fact-checking organisations globally. In South Africa, this includes Code for Africa.

Why AI matters during the elections

The introduction of the AI media literacy hub comes at a time when convincing AI-generated videos, images and audio can be created and shared quickly.

For voters, that creates another layer of uncertainty when consuming political content online.

TikTok’s Election Centre is therefore not only about telling users when and where to vote. It is also aimed at helping them question what they see on their feeds, recognise potentially manipulated content and find official information before making decisions based on something shared online.

With campaigning intensifying ahead of the 4 November vote, TikTok said it would continue working on measures to limit misinformation and protect election-related conversations on the platform.

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Source: The Citizen