1. What type of content is not allowed on Tik Tok?

Tik Tok’s community guidelines provide general guidance on what is and what is not allowed on the platform. Here are some of the restrictions established in those policies:

• Dangerous individuals or organizations cannot use the platform to promote terrorism, crime, or other types of behavior that could cause harm.
• Content that promotes criminal activities like assaulting or kidnapping.
• Content that risks the safety of others, including pranks like swatting.
• Content that is excessively gruesome or shocking, especially that promotes or glorifies abject violence or suffering.
• Content that promotes self-harm or suicide. Tik Tok mentions they allow users to share their experiences in order to raise awareness about these issues.
• Content that attacks or incites violence against an individual or a group of individuals on the basis of protected attributes.
• Content that promotes any hateful ideologies by talking positively about or displaying logos, symbols, flags, slogans, uniforms, salutes, gestures, portraits, illustrations, or names of individuals related to these ideologies.
• Expressions of abuse, including but not limited to violent threats, sexual harassment, disparaging statements regarding appearance, intellect, personality traits, and hygiene.
• Content that depicts, commits, or incites non-consensual sexual acts. Content that commits, promotes, or glorifies sexual solicitation or sexual objectification.
• Nudity and sexual exploitation involving minors Content or activity that seeks to artificially inflate popularity on the platform.

2. How does Tik Tok respond to online harassment?

Like other social media platforms, Tik Tok has teams of moderators who review and remove content that violates their standards. They also eliminate content based on reports they receive from users. According to its Transparency Report, between July 1 and December 31, 2019, Tik Tok removed 49,247,689 videos globally.

Tik Tok allows you to make your account private, approve or deny followers, and restrict your uploaded content to followers only. You can also control who can comment on your videos by adjusting your privacy settings.

Tik Tok creators have criticized the different ways in which some of the app’s features could be used to harass. For instance, the Duets option, which allows users to do a side-by-side response to another user’s video, has been used by some people to bully and threaten others. Keep in mind that Tik Tok allows users to decide who can make duets with them. “You can choose one setting for all your videos, or make that decision for each video individually. You’re also in control over who can react to your videos”, says the platform in its policies. (See what other social media platforms have included in their policies to prevent and respond to online harassment)

3. How can I restrict Duet’s feature to prevent others from sending me inappropriate reactions?

1. Tap the Settings icon in the top right corner.
2. Tap Privacy and Safety.
3. Tap Who Can Duet With Me. You could select “Everyone”, “Friends”, or “Off”.

You could also update Duet settings for a single video:

1. Open the video and tap the Share icon.
2. Tap Privacy Settings.
3. Tap Turn off Duet / React for this video.

4. What should I do if I’m being harassed on Tik Tok?

If you ever feel someone is harassing you, you should take screenshots and then report that abusive behavior to the platform. A moderation team will review it and take appropriate action if it decides it violates TikTok’s Community Guidelines (Learn more about some of the steps you can take if you are experiencing online harassment)

5. Does Tik Tok have Parental Control tools? What resources does Tik Tok offer to protect children?

Tik Tok gained popularity and became one of the most downloaded apps among kids and youth. According to its policies, the app is intended for users aged 13 and over. Tik Tok encourages parents to use device-parental controls provided by Apple App Store or Google Play Store to block the app from underage children’s phones. Tik Tok also recommends parents to “sit with your teen to help them manage their account settings and navigate their online experience holistically”.

Another alternative to increase protection is making their accounts private. By doing so, they will be able to approve or deny followers and will restrict their uploaded content and incoming messages to followers only. However, Tik Tok notices that “even with a private account, profile information – including profile photo, username, and bio – will be visible to all users”.

Tik Tok also has the Family Pairing option which links a parent’s TikTok account to their teen’s. Once enabled, they will be able to control Digital Wellbeing features, including:

• Screen Time Management:
  Control how long they can spend on TikTok each day. 
• Direct Messages:
  Limit who can send messages to the connected account or turn off direct messaging completely 
• Restricted Mode:
  Restrict the appearance of content that may not be appropriate for all audiences. 

Learn more about what parents can do to protect their children on Tik Tok here.

1. How can I report inappropriate content on Tik Tok?

Report an account:

1. Go to the profile of the account you want to report.
2. Tap the Settings icon .
3. Tap Report and follow the steps in the app.

Report a video:

1. Open the video and tap the Share icon .
2. Tap Report and follow the steps in the app.

Report a comment:

1. Tap the comment you’d like to report.
2. Tap Report and follow the steps in the app.

Report a message:

1. Open the conversation and tap the Share icon .
2. Tap Report and follow the steps in the app.

(Watch this video to learn more about how to report bullying or harassment)

2. How can I remove a follower?

1. Go to your Profile tab.
2. Tap Followers.
3. Tap the follower you wish to remove.
4. Tap in the top right corner of the profile page.
5. Select Block.

3. How can I block someone on Tik Tok?

1. Go to the profile of the account you want to report.
2. Tap the Settings icon .
3. Tap Block and follow the steps in the app.

If you block someone, they won’t be able to view your videos or interact with you through direct messages, comments, follows, or likes. Keep in mind that as this is a good measure to protect you, blocking someone harassing you may not help you get a full sense of risk or track the harassment. (It’s really important to take time out to take care of yourself. Check out our Self-Care guides and find tips that will help you to feel better.)

1. How can I make my account private?

You could make your account private to restrict your uploaded content to followers and close users only and prevent from unknown people watching your videos.

1. Go to your Profile tab.
2. Tap the Settings icon in the top right corner.
3. Tap Privacy and Safety and turn on Private Account.

If your account is private, users can’t see your videos unless you allow them to follow you. However, even with a private account, your profile information – including profile photo, username, and bio – will be visible to all users.

2. How to make a video private?

Instead of making your account private, you could also choose to make just a specific video private. According to Tik Tok, “private videos are visible only to you, and you can select this setting when you originally upload the video – or by later making an uploaded video private”.

If you’ve already uploaded the video:

• Tap the Share icon and tap Who Can View This Video > Private.

If you’re about to post a video:

• Tap Who Can View This Video > Private.

3. What should I do if I suspect my account has been hacked?

If you suspect your account has been hacked, you should change your password as soon as possible. Doing so will log out all other users who may have accessed your account. See our guide to learn how to create secure passwords. If you can’t change your password, contact the Support Team by going to your Profile tab, tapping on the Settings icon, and selecting Privacy and Settings > Send Feedback.

4. How to hide comments with specific words on your profile?

You can filter negative words (For example insults like dumb, stupid, or ugly) from appearing on your comments or videos. Go to Settings, Privacy and Safety, select Comment Filters and then choose Filter Key Words. Watch this video to learn more.

5. Does Tik Tok allow parody, fan, or commentary accounts of someone?

Yes, Tik Tok allows parody, fan, or commentary accounts as long as they follow this guideline:

• “The bio should indicate that the account is a fan, commentary, or parody account and that it is not affiliated with the subject of the account. The bio can include words or hashtags such as “parody,” “fake,” “fan,” or “commentary””.
• “The nickname should indicate that the account is not affiliated or managed by the subject of the account”.
• “The username should indicate that it is a fan, parody, or commentary account”.

If you feel that an account is posing as another person or organization in a confusing or deceptive manner, you should report it.

1. How can I delete a comment posted on my videos?

Just tap and hold the comment, then choose “delete”.

2. How can I control who can comment on my videos?

1. Tap the Settings icon in the top right corner.
2. Tap Privacy and Safety.
3. Tap Who Can Post Comments and select “Everyone”, “Friends”, or “Off”.

You could update comment settings for a single video:

1. Open the video and tap the Share icon.
2. Tap Privacy Settings.
3. Tap Turn off comments for this video.

3. How can I control who can send me messages?

1. Tap the Settings icon in the top right corner.
2. Tap Privacy and Safety.
3. Tap Who can send me messages and select “Friends” or “Off”

See more here.