TikTok Permanently Bans Journalist Cam Higby After Undercover Burka Video Exposes Minneapolis Voting Rules

TikTok permanently banned journalist Cam Higby on Tuesday after he published an undercover video filmed in a burka inside polling stations in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The platform removed the verified account, which had 780,000 followers, citing alleged election misinformation linked to footage of poll workers accepting voter vouching without standard identification.

Higby had partnered with commentator James O'Keefe to test local election safeguards by visiting voting precincts dressed in Muslim attire.

Minnesota Vouching Rules and the Burka Investigation

Under Minnesota Statutes section 201.061, registered voters can legally sign an affidavit to confirm the residency of up to eight unregistered individuals.

This allows them to register and cast ballots without presenting standard proof of residence on election day, provided they supply basic ID details such as a driving licence or the last four digits of their Social Security number.

The hidden camera visit involved O'Keefe wearing a traditional thobe while Higby operated in a black burka. They approached poll workers to clarify the boundaries of the vouching system.

During one recorded exchange, O'Keefe asked if he could vouch for individuals who were not yet registered. When poll workers confirmed the process was acceptable, an election worker informed O'Keefe that he essentially acted as the required identification. O'Keefe then replied that he was indeed the identification.

'We wanted to find out what this actually looks like inside a polling place and how far election workers would let us take it,' O'Keefe stated. The footage showed workers accepting the vouchers as sufficient without requesting supplementary identification checks.

TikTok Ban Reignites Row Over Election Content

Following the release of the footage, TikTok removed the videos from its platform before issuing a permanent ban against Higby. The platform restricted the account, which the journalist noted had previously served as his primary source of income when he was temporarily suspended in 2021.

He expressed disappointment, noting he had previously collaborated with corporate representatives and politicians to defend the application from national bans under the banner of free speech.

'I built a strong relationship with the company, today that company chose to ban me,' he stated. Higby said he received a preliminary warning that his account was at risk before the final deactivation on Tuesday.

He recalled a similar experience in 2021 on the inauguration day of US President Joe Biden, where his account was repeatedly suspended and reinstated before being entirely wiped from the system. At that time, TikTok representatives reportedly assured him he had not violated their guidelines.

Legal Scrutiny of Polling Station Footage

Secretary of State Steve Simon confirmed that poll workers had reported the encounters to local election officials immediately, and that law enforcement was reviewing the matter as a potential violation of the state's voter laws, while also defending the vouching process itself as legal, relatively rare and subject to post-election verification.

David Schultz, a constitutional law professor at Hamline University, said the footage appeared to show a clear violation. 'It's illegal in the state of Minnesota to impersonate another voter, and this is apparently what O'Keefe did,' he said.

Secretary Simon reached the same conclusion, stating: 'As I read the law, you can't impersonate another registered voter, and that's exactly what they appear to have filmed themselves doing.'

Impersonating a voter at a Minnesota polling place carries a felony charge of up to seven years in prison and a fine of up to £15,700 ($20,000).

The fallout from the Minneapolis polling stations continues. Questions remain about how platforms apply election rules to undercover footage and where officials draw the line between investigative journalism and prohibited misinformation.