Council banned from TikTok after getting zero views as social media site suspects fake account

A council has been banned from TikTok after getting zero views.

Wellington Town Council found its account was removed for being potentially fake.

The council approved the account in June as part of an effort to connect with younger residents through the popular short-video app.

Only minimal content had been uploaded, including footage of the mayor at the head of a summer fayre procession.

TRENDING

Stories

Videos

Your Say

However, the initiative barely got off the ground before the account vanished.

When the council's Events and Communication Committee convened on Tuesday, members discovered the profile had been taken down without any explanation provided.

TikTok determined that the account could be the work of imposters because it had not been properly accredited under the platform's rules governing government, political party and politician accounts.

These regulations require all such profiles to carry correct labelling identifying their official status - something Wellington Town Council's page had failed to do.

The platform confirmed it had subsequently restored the account, which now displays the required government accreditation badge.

The mix-up essentially meant that TikTok's own safeguards against fraudulent accounts had inadvertently caught a genuine local authority in its net.

At Tuesday's committee meeting, councillors discussed how to resolve the situation.

Councillor Paul Davis expressed his hope that the decision would be reversed.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

• Navy veteran who suffered brain tumour braving fundraising walk for charity supporting recovery
• Herd of goats brought in to clear sea view at British resort fail as holidaymakers left outraged
• Benefit cheat dodges jail despite lying for years to pocket nearly £40,000 from the public purse

Committee chairwoman Emma Holding said she was keen not only to understand the reasons behind the ban but also to ensure the council could prevent a repeat occurrence.

Members were told that the authority had already contacted TikTok in an attempt to sort the matter out.

In a further move, councillors proposed that Mayor Reg Snell should pen a formal letter to the multinational tech company urging it to reconsider its decision.

Despite the council's ambitions to build a presence on the ByteDance-owned platform, the account's reach has been negligible.

The two videos posted in June had attracted a combined total of zero views.

TikTok employs a multi-layered approach to identifying and removing fraudulent profiles, relying on automated detection algorithms, device tracking and user reports to weed out bot accounts.

These systems are continually updated as automated profiles grow increasingly sophisticated, requiring platforms to maintain several defensive layers.

It was this very infrastructure designed to combat fakes that inadvertently ensnared the Somerset town's modest social media venture.

Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter