Influencers Are Allegedly Being Paid To Promote Political Parties

There have been rumors going around Twitter claiming that certain political parties are paying content creators on TikTok to promote their parties.

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We’ve heard of rural folk allegedly being paid to vote for certain political parties. We’ve also heard claims of ghost voters. While it is difficult to prove these things, the thing about politics is that these rumours are not new.

As the 15th general election is closing in on us, there’s been new claims of social media influencers being hired to promote political parties.

Influencers promote stuff, but political parties?

Ultimately, influencers make money from promoting brands and businesses, but political parties just seem like something they should be wary of.

There have been tweets from influencers claiming that some people in charge of certain political parties have asked them if they could do content promoting their said parties.

A few Twitter users even exposed the alleged screenshots that they have regarding the offer. Influencers allegedly will get paid based on how many followers they have or how many views they will have.

Wow. TikTok bayar kempen PRU lagi dahsyat beb. Masyukkkkk! pic.twitter.com/ZbNXdci4RP
— Abah (@chairman_GLC) November 9, 2022

Based on the alleged screenshots of the chats, there’s even a script ready for them and t-shirts with their logo for the video.

PN =BN haha ingatkan betul la ramai sokong PN.. pic.twitter.com/UbgY3dMsyX
— cikyaniee (@lady_bugg11) November 10, 2022

Netizens are confused about this

Commentators are kinda shocked that influencers can be paid to promote political parties like that. Some even worry about those young voters on TikTok that’s easily swayed by the videos posted by their influencers.

“This may seem petty but there are a lot of young voters on TikTok that’s easily influenced. Furthermore, some of the influencers themselves are naive and are only looking for an easy way to make an easy income. It’s subtle propaganda. It may seem shitty but it gets the job done.”

“Those Undi18 kids are easily swayed by promises and gifts. This is the time they can take advantage of the young voters. Especially those active on social media.”

“People nowadays are smart. But these kinda jobs have little integrity.”

Some actually think it’s quite normal as it is a way for political parties to campaign.

“It’s a campaign. Paid reviews should be nothing. Isn’t it the same with all those billboards with the candidates’ faces? Aren’t those political ads too?”

Platform guidelines

TikTok actually prohibits political advertising which is paid ads that are done on the platform or creators that are being paid directly to make branded political content.

You can actually report the content if you think it violates the platform’s guidelines by tapping the share button, and then the report button. There’s an option for Election under the harmful misinformation option.

Read more about the guidelines in the article below if you wanna know more.

According to their community guidelines, Instagram and Facebook also prohibit monetization from political parties.