Kuala Lumpur: TikTok today announced a partnership with the Election Commission of Malaysia (EC) to work together to protect the integrity of its platform in the lead up to the 17th Sabah State Election.
The organizations will work together to protect users from misinformation and provide reliable, trustworthy details on the voting process with an in-app search guide that offers official resources on the election process.
During the state elections, TikTok will work closely with the Election Commission and fact-checkers to make it easy to find authoritative information about voting and the election.
Advanced moderation technologies and thousands of safety professionals will help connect users with authoritative information while removing harmful content from the platform.
TikTok will also enable its in-app search guide that will prompt when users search for election-related content. Clicking the Search Guide opens a detailed page that reminds users of our community guidelines and redirects them to the EC's official website for accurate election information.
To further safeguard the integrity of election processes, TikTok engaged with experts on the Sabah state elections.
This initiative is part of TikTok's ongoing collaboration with government officials, civil society organizations, and election watchdogs, including non-government agencies such as BERSIH, to ensure that TikTok’s election policies continue to evolve in response to more complex threats and challenges.
Firdaus Fadzil, Head of Public Policy, TikTok Malaysia, said: “Elections are important moments that spark active conversations amongst the community. During these civic processes, we remain focused on keeping our users safe and protecting the integrity of the TikTok platform.
We do this by enforcing a set of robust policies aimed at preventing the spread of misinformation, enabling our in-app search guide, prohibiting political ads, elevating authoritative information from trusted sources, and collaborating with experts who help us evaluate and improve our approach.
Through our partnership with the Election Commission of Malaysia, we are committed to support and strengthen the integrity of the election process."
Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun, Chairman of the Election Commission of Malaysia, stressed: "The Election Commission (EC) remains committed to providing accurate, efficient, and transparent information throughout the voting process for the people of Malaysia.
The EC strives to ensure that there are no elements that could create negative perceptions, doubts, or mistrust across shared social media platforms. Collaborating with TikTok is one of the key steps toward ensuring that voters have access to authentic and timely information.
Through this partnership, we reaffirm our commitment to promoting voter education and empowering public participation and understanding, enabling Malaysians to take part in the electoral process with confidence and enthusiasm."
TikTok is committed to enforcing its Community Guidelines to ensure a safe and trustworthy user experience. In Malaysia, from Q1 2024 to the end of Q2 2025, the platform has removed more than 450,000 videos under our Integrity and Authenticity policies.
This includes our policies on misinformation, fake engagement, and civic and election integrity, of which more than 99% were removed proactively.
Additionally, TikTok does not allow political ads and prohibits accounts belonging to politicians, governments, or political parties from monetizing content.
Candidates, political parties and any other advertisers remain prohibited from promoting election-related content through ads. The only exception is for official entities overseeing elections which may run ads strictly limited to essential voter information such as how to vote, voter registration, or participation details.
Users are encouraged to report misleading information through TikTok’s in-app reporting tool, which enables swift action against content that violates the platform’s policies.
