The relationship between social networks and misinformation is more than obvious, and TikTok could not be an exception. It is true that Facebook and Twitter are the main protagonists at the moment, with an honorary medal for the first after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which was probably the first big step on the winding road the company has taken in two years since then. Basic aspects: lack of security and disinformation tools.

The influence, if not interference, of misinformation on social media about election events made headlines in the Brexit cases and in the 2016 US presidential election, in which Donald Trump won the presidency. However, these were not the only cases.. Also in 2016, elections were held in the Philippines, which, according to many verifiers, became another example of the importance that misinformation gained in the election process. Again with Facebook and Twitter as the main protagonists.

Now, however, and based on what we can read on Yahoo! Finance, TikTok would be quite successful in spreading disinformation, even taking into account the current circumstances in the Philippines, which can undoubtedly be extrapolated to many other geographical areas where similar circumstances also occur. And it is crucial to take this trend into account, because it attacks an audience that is quite skeptical about politics and therefore manipulable in this regard.

To try to reduce the impact of misinformation on the platformTikTok is working with the Philippine Election Commission before today’s election. However, the opacity of TikTok in terms of the algorithm it uses to select what content it displays to each user is, in this case, a problem in terms of how disinformators use the social network and its effectiveness.

Of course, this is not a peculiarity of TikTok, because we have already seen this problem on other social networks. However, as I indicated earlier, this particular network has seen significant growth in the Philippines and the same used by the family of Ferdinand Marcosdictator of the archipelago from 1965 to 1986. Despite the fact that the departure of the Marcos from power left a rather dark memory in the country, his heirs launched a very successful public relations campaign to rehabilitate his image.

On social networks, including Facebook, YouTube and TikTokaccounts promote a “kinder” version of family history, describing the years marked by state violence and martial law as the “golden years.” His message puts Marcos’ sons, especially Marcos Jr., as the legitimate heir to the country’s leadership, which has already enabled him to stand as one of the main candidates in this electoral process.