Changes made to its policy for governments, politicians and political party accounts (GPPPA) last year saw the prohibition on political advertisements from being published on the platform extended to the account level, New Straits Times reported.

“We do not allow paid ads that promote or oppose a candidate, government, current leader, political party or group, or issue at the federal, state, or local level,” TikTok Malaysia’s public policy head Hafizin Tajudin was quoted as saying.

Hafizin also denied claims that a former employee, who served as a content moderator, promoted certain parties on TikTok.

The company, he said, has a “robust quality assurance system” in place to ensure that the political or personal opinions of its employees do not influence their work, including moderating content.

Hafizin was responding to communications and digital minister Fahmi Fadzil, who had earlier expressed his concern that the platform’s moderator was biased.

In the run-up to the 15th general election, it had been reported that candidates had turned to TikTok to draw support from voters, especially the young.