Source: South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]
“TikTok said it had shut down three ‘covert influence networks’ and removed more than one million fake or spam accounts targeting users in the Philippines ahead of the country’s recent midterm election, amid growing concerns over the role of social media in distorting the country’s political discourse. The short-form video platform, owned by China’s ByteDance, disclosed the takedowns in an update published Wednesday from its Global Integrity Hub. According to the update, the accounts and networks targeted Filipino users by creating ‘inauthentic accounts in order to amplify narratives favouring certain politicians and criticising others.’ The three networks, operating locally, were detected and taken down in April – weeks before the May 12 midterm elections.” (05/22/25)