TikTok prohibits content that attacks or dehumanizes individuals or groups based on protected characteristics including race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and disability — violating content can be removed and accounts can be banned.
This analysis describes what TikTok's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
While hate speech prohibitions are standard on major platforms, the breadth of TikTok's protected categories and the subjectivity of 'dehumanization' determinations create enforcement inconsistency risks and potential for both under- and over-enforcement.
The updated Community Guidelines footer no longer includes a direct link to TikTok's Children's Privacy Policy. Previously, users navigating the Community Guidelines could access child-specific privacy disclosures through the footer link. The Children's Privacy Policy itself may remain available on TikTok's platform, but this change reduces the visibility and discoverability of that document from the Community Guidelines page. Users seeking child privacy information from the Community Guidelines will need to navigate elsewhere or search for it independently.
View change record →TikTok's Community Guidelines grant the platform broad, largely discretionary authority to remove content and suspend or permanently ban accounts for violations ranging from explicit harms like child exploitation to broadly defined categories like 'misinformation' and 'harmful or dangerous acts,' which may affect creators and ordinary users alike. Users under 16 face additional content restrictions and feature limitations, and users under 13 are subject to a separate, more restrictive experience under COPPA compliance obligations. You can appeal content removals and account actions directly within the TikTok app by navigating to Settings, then Support, then Report a Problem.
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REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: The EU Digital Services Act (Art. 34) requires VLOP risk assessments for illegal hate speech, and EU member state hate speech laws (including the EU Framework Decision 2008/913/JHA) impose criminal liability for incitement to hatred. Germany's NetzDG requires removal of clearly illegal hate speech within 24 hours (extended to 7 days for complex cases) with fines up to €50M. In the US, there is no federal hate speech law; TikTok's policy exceeds legal requirements but is protected under Section 230. The UK's Online Safety Act 2023 (s.12-15) requires risk assessments for hate speech as priority illegal content.
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While hate speech prohibitions are standard on major platforms, the breadth of TikTok's protected categories and the subjectivity of 'dehumanization' determinations create enforcement inconsistency risks and potential for both under- and over-enforcement.
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