TikTok announced that it’s launching a new ad product called “Branded Mission” that will allow creators to connect with brands and possibly receive rewards for videos, TechCrunch reported. According to TechCrunch, with this new ad product, advertisers can crowdsource content from creators and turn top-performing videos into ads.

TikTok posted in its newsroom more information about “Branded Mission”. From the post:

…To make it easier for brands to tap into the creative power of TikTok communities and co-create authentic branded content that resonates with users, we’re launching Branded Mission. Branded Mission is an industry-first ad solution that enables advertisers to crowdsource authentic content from creators on TikTok, turn top-performing videos into ads, and improve brand affinity with media impressions.

According to TikTok, this new form of two-way engagement between brands and creators enables the TikTok community to have a creative hand in the ads that are part of a brand campaign and helps brands discover emerging creators across TikTok.

By using Branded Mission, advertisers can:

Engage the community to participate in branded campaigns: Brands can develop a brief and release it to the creator community to participate in the Branded Mission.

Let creators tell the most relatable brand story in an authentic way: TikTok creators can decide what Branded Missions they are inspired by and choose to participate in the Mission. Brands will select their favorite original creative videos and amplify them through promoted ad traffic.

Discover a diverse ecosystem of creators who are the main drivers of culture on TikTok: Brands now have more opportunities to discover and engage with a broad ecosystem of creative and talented creators. Creators who are at least 18 years old with more than 1,000 followers will be eligible to participate in a Branded Mission.

According to TikTok, eligible creators whose videos are selected by the brand as ads will benefit from a cash payment and boosted traffic. On each Branded Mission page, creators will see the potential earning opportunity before choosing to participate.

It is worth noting that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) makes it clear that creators have the responsibility to disclose that their content is an advertisement – not the brands responsibility.

“If you endorse a product through social media, your endorsement message should make it obvious when you have a relationship (“material connection”) with the brand. A “material connection” to the brand includes a personal, family, or employment relationship or a financial relationship – such as the brand paying you or giving you free or discounted products or services.”

I think it is a good idea for TikTok to enable a connection between brands and creators. I like that the brands have to be upfront about how much they are willing to pay a creator for allowing the brand to use their creative content. TikTok creators who are looking for a way to increase their income might be ready to create ads for brands.

On the other hand, it is entirely possible that the Branded Mission ads might fail. If the creators do the right thing, and disclose that this is an ad, it could make people decided not to watch it. Some people are going to reject that content specifically because it is yet another ad. In general, people tend to avoid ads as much as possible.

TikTok posted information about its state-controlled media policy in a Newsroom post titled: “Bringing more context to content on TikTok”. Some social media companies already have put in place similar policies. Those who don’t have one will probably create one now.

Last year we began working to develop a consistent and comprehensive state media policy, as we recognize that an additional layer of context can be helpful to viewers, especially in times of war and in conflict zones. In response to the war in Ukraine, we’re expediting the rollout of our state media policy to bring viewers context to evaluate the content they consume on our platform…

TikTok will begin by applying labels to content from some state-controlled media accounts over the coming days.

Here are some key points from TikTok’s policies:

We recognize the heightened risk and impact of misleading information during a time of crisis. We continue to increase our safety and security measures and are working aggressively to help ensure people can express themselves and share their experiences, while we also seek to mitigate the potential for harm.

TikTok uses a combination of technology and people to protect their platform. Their teams speak more than 60 languages and dialects including Russian and Ukrainian.

TikTok reminds users that their Community Guidelines prohibit content that contains harmful misinformation, hateful behavior, or promotion of violence. The company will remove violative content, will ban accounts, and will suspend access to product features like livestream to those who break the rules.

TikTok also has evolved its methods in real-time to identify and combat harmful content, such as implementing additional measures to help detect and take action on livestreams that may broadcast unoriginal or misleading content.

TikTok will “remain focused on preventing, detecting, and deterring influence operations on our platform and our systems help us to identify, block and remove inauthentic accounts, engagement, or other associated activities on TikTok”.

The New York Times reported that some TikTok users were viewing videos of Ukrainian tanks taken from video games, as well as a soundtrack that was first uploaded to the app more than a year ago. Some who viewed that content believed they were seeing legitimate, authentic, videos posted by people in the Ukraine.

President Biden issued an executive order titled: “Executive Order on Protecting Americans’ Sensitive Data from Foreign Adversaries”. It revokes one of Trump’s executive orders banning TikTok and WeChat. That order was never carried out.

In September of 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced a prohibition on transactions relating to mobile apps WeChat and TikTok. In October of 2020, three popular TikTok creators filed a lawsuit against the Department of Commerce. U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted a preliminary injunction, which caused the Department of Commerce to be enjoined from forcing the prohibition on TikTok.

The Verge reported that President Biden’s executive order revokes the Trump-era bans on TikTok and WeChat. The order calls for the Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo, to investigate apps with ties to foreign adversaries that may pose a risk to American data privacy or national security.

It also calls on other federal agencies to work together to craft recommendations to protect against the collection, sale, and transfer of sensitive US consumer data to foreign adversaries. According to The Verge, the Commerce Department is expected to also make recommendations for future executive orders or legislation to address these concerns.

The Trump order had not been carried out “in the soundest fashion”, according to CNN, who posted about Biden administration officials call with reporters. The officials stated that the new directive would establish “clear intelligible criteria” to evaluate national security risks posed by software applications connected to foreign governments, particularly China.

Overall, it seems to me that the executive order is intended to prevent foreign adversaries from collecting the data of Americans. That sounds like a good thing. The order also means that TikTok and WeChat are likely to be investigated in order to determine if they should be banned.