2.4. Google and YouTube Google’s commitments are rooted in its Human Rights First approach that applies across its Search and YouTube ecosystems. • Human Rights at Google: This foundational policy pledges to uphold the UNGPs and the Global Network Initiative (GNI) Principles, mandating that human rights due diligence be integrated into product deployment. • YouTube EDSA Exceptions: YouTube provides formal exceptions for Educational, Documentary, Scientific, or Artistic (EDSA) content, which would include media content. This includes that graphic footage from conflict zones is permitted if accompanied by sufficient journalistic context (e.g., date, location, and condemnation of violence). • YouTube Elections Misinformation Policy: This policy prohibits voter suppression while promising to “raise up authoritative information” from verified news sources in search results. 2.5. TikTok TikTok has formalised its human rights and election integrity frameworks, particularly regarding public interest accounts. • Upholding Human Rights Policy: This policy aligns TikTok with the UNGPs and commits the platform to conducting Human Rights Impact Assessments (HRIAs) to identify harms caused by its moderation practices. • Public Interest Account Policy (Violations and Bans): TikTok establishes a specific enforcement threshold for news entities. It promises a “higher bar” for the permanent removal of such accounts, acknowledging their importance in civic discourse and pledging a tiered system of strikes rather than immediate bans for non-severe violations. • Protecting Election Integrity: Through this policy, TikTok commits to specialised election task forces and partnerships with local fact-checkers to remove content intended to mislead the community about civic processes. • Nuanced Account Enforcement: Explicitly mentioned in TikTok’s Newsroom, this standard aims to ensure the public interest is protected during elections by handling enforcement for news organisations “a little differently” to support human rights. Page 8 of 19