What gets a TikTok video taken down, age-restricted, demonetized or shown to fewer people
87 rules from TikTok's own policy and help pages, in plain words: what triggers each one, what TikTok says, and a link to the page.
Last verified
TikTok
At a glance
What happens to a video that breaks one of these TikTok rules, and how many rules lead there.
38 rules:Taken downMostly about minors' safety; politics and elections; sponsored posts and ads.
1 rule:Age-restrictedMostly about health claims.
10 rules:DemonetizedMostly about low quality and video format; engagement bait; links to other sites.
28 rules:Shown to fewer peopleMostly about drugs, alcohol and tobacco; health claims; minors' safety.
2 rules:Muted or blockedMostly about copyrighted music; sponsored posts and ads.
4 rules:Labeled or needs a disclosureMostly about AI-generated or altered media; dangerous stunts and challenges; sponsored posts and ads.
4 rules:OtherMostly about copyrighted music; health claims; low quality and video format.
By topic
Minors' safety6
Health claims5
Low quality and video format5
Sponsored posts and ads5
AI-generated or altered media4
Drugs, alcohol and tobacco4
Nudity and sexual content4
Politics and elections4
Violence and gore4
Dangerous stunts and challenges3
Hate and harassment3
Self-harm and eating disorders3
Animal welfare2
Copyrighted music2
Engagement bait2
Gambling2
Links to other sites2
Misinformation2
Reposted or unoriginal videos2
Scams and fraud2
Spam and misleading tricks2
Weapons2
Impersonation1
Money and investment claims1
Other apps' watermarks1
Other copyrighted material1
Privacy1
Regulated goods1
Swearing and crude language1
Violent extremism1
Other9
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The 20 rules that matter most
20 of the 87, the ones that hurt a creator most first, with a few of each kind.
What gets a video taken down
01RemovalViolence and gore
Threats, praise of violence or how-to for crimes
What triggers it: Speech, on-screen text or caption that threatens or wishes physical harm on people, calls for or praises violent attacks, promotes theft or property destruction, or gives instructions for crimes that could hurt people, animals or property.
“We don't allow threats, glorifying violence, or promoting crimes that could harm people, animals, or property.”
What triggers it: Attacks on people for a protected attribute (race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, caste, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, serious disease, immigration status, tribe): slurs, dehumanizing comparisons, calling a group criminals or diseased, supremacy claims, hateful conspiracies, hate symbols, atrocity denial, deadnaming or misgendering, promoting conversion therapy, selling hate merchandise. In some regions also insulting religion or desecrating religious symbols.
“Using hateful slurs associated with a protected attribute”
What triggers it: Promoting, praising, recruiting for or materially supporting violent extremists, violent criminal organizations (cartels, gangs), hateful organizations or mass/serial killers, or showing their symbols, flags, speeches, manifestos or attack footage. A seemingly neutral quote from such an actor without clear framing also counts.
“Content that may appear neutral, such as featuring a quote from a hateful organization or individual, must make clear that there is no intent to promote it.”
What triggers it: Any sexualization or fetishizing of a person under 18 (including AI-generated or drawn), minors in only underwear or lingerie, minors in intimate kissing, sexually suggestive acts or sexualized camera framing, sexual language aimed at minors, adult-minor romance, grooming or sexual solicitation.
“Significant body exposure of young people, such as wearing only underwear or lingerie”
What triggers it: Showing neglect, endangerment, or physical or emotional abuse of a minor (including 'prank' punishments or humiliation of children), or content that could identify a minor who has been abused.
“Neglect, endangerment, or physical or emotional abuse of young people”
What triggers it: Showing or promoting non-consensual sexual acts, sharing or creating intimate images (real, edited or AI) of someone without consent, sextortion, or explicit depictions of adult sexual abuse even in fiction.
“Having, sharing, or creating intimate images (real or edited) of someone without their consent”
What triggers it: Showing, promoting or giving instructions for suicide or self-harm, highly detailed descriptions of methods, suicide/self-harm hoaxes or challenges, or sharing a plan to harm oneself.
“Sharing highly detailed descriptions of suicide or self-harm acts or methods”
What triggers it: Showing, describing, promoting or glorifying extremely low-calorie diets, starving, bingeing or purging, unsafe use of dieting, fasting or medication, harmful exercise for weight or muscle, or body comparison trends (e.g. comparing body parts to objects).
“That’s why we don’t allow content that promotes disordered eating and risky weight management behaviors.”
What triggers it: Selling or marketing products or services for weight loss or muscle gain that are prone to misuse and risky, or any such product promoted with exaggerated or harmful claims (e.g. unrealistic results).
“Any product or service promoted with exaggerated or harmful claims, such as unrealistic weight loss results”
What triggers it: Non-professionals doing dares, challenges or stunts with visible or likely serious injury (broken bones, burns, poisoning, choking), eating or drinking unsafe items, or risky driving including driving under the influence.
“Risky driving, such as driving under the influence”
What triggers it: Sexual activity (including drawn or anime), sexual arousal, fetish or kink behavior, nudity of adults or minors, or offering/asking for sexual services, sexual chats or porn (e.g. 'spicy content, link in bio'). In some regions also adults using sexually explicit language or showing sex products.
“Facilitating access to sexual services, such as offering or asking for sexual acts, sexual chats or imagery, or pornography”
Animal cruelty, neglect, poaching or animal fights
What triggers it: Showing or promoting inhumane slaughter, mutilation or abuse of animals (including staged animal fights), neglect such as malnourished animals, dismembered or severely injured animals, poaching, or bestiality.
“Showing or promoting inhumane slaughter, mutilation, or abuse of animals, including staged animal fights”
What triggers it: Selling or marketing low-risk products or services in a weight-loss or muscle-gain context (e.g. protein powder, gym programs) without exaggerated claims.
“Trading, marketing, or providing access to products or services that are promoted in the context of weight loss or muscle gain, with low associated health risks”
What triggers it: 5 video violations in the past 30 days makes the account ineligible; 5 total account violations make it permanently ineligible; 5 or more CRP-ineligible videos in 30 days may get the account disqualified; Creator Code of Conduct breaches (on or off platform) can restrict all creator programs for 3 months or permanently.
“Content violation threshold: Your account has 5 video violations in the past 30 days.”
What triggers it: An account posts a lot of FYF-ineligible content, even without breaking rules; TikTok may make the account and all its content FYF-ineligible and harder to find.
“Sometimes, accounts that don’t break the rules still post a lot of content that’s ineligible for the FYF. In those cases, we may make the account and its content ineligible for the FYF and harder to find.”
What triggers it: Jokes, generalizations or insinuations that demean or undermine the inclusion of a protected group, without being outright hate speech (for example 'all women from X are...' humor).
“Stereotypes, generalizations, insinuations, or statements that may demean or undermine the inclusion of protected groups or identities”
Sponsored alcohol, gambling, finance or medicine post
What triggers it: Branded content for alcohol, dating apps, energy drinks, film/TV/game trailers, financial services, OTC or prescription medicine, vitamin supplements, gambling or real-money games, or underwear. Allowed only when invited by a TikTok-approved brand through TikTok One; shown only in the market where posted, age-gated (alcohol 18+, 21+ in the US, Canada and Japan, 25+ in Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Ukraine) and not allowed at all in many countries.
“Branded Content that promotes or reviews products or services from the following restricted industries is allowed, but will only be shown in the market it was posted in and may be age restricted.”
20Needs a disclosure labelAI-generated or altered media
Realistic AI or heavily edited video not labeled
What triggers it: AI-generated or significantly edited content showing realistic-looking people or scenes without a label: face swaps, making someone appear to say something they didn't, adding or removing people or objects in a misleading way, AI voice that mimics a real person, or clips cut, rearranged or sped up to change meaning.
“Unlabeled content may be removed, restricted, or labeled by our team, depending on the harm it could cause.”