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Tik Tok Privacy Policy 2023

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TERMS OF SERVICE (EEA)

• 1. Who you are contracting with


• 2. What services are covered by these Terms
• 3. Additional terms and policies that might apply depending on the features you use
• 4. Using the Platform
• 5. What we promise to you
• 6. Suspending or ending our relationship
• 7. Changes to these Terms or the Platform
• 8. Resolving disputes
• 9. Other
• 10. Contacting TikTok

EEA/UK/CH
Terms of Service
(If you are a user having your residence in the European Economic Area, Switzerland and the
UK)

Last updated: August 2023

Welcome to TikTok.
These Terms of Service (“Terms”) contain the agreement between you and TikTok in respect of the
Platform described below. Please read these Terms carefully. Please also read our Privacy Policy,
Cookies Policy and Community Guidelines.
You form a contract with us when you confirm that you accept these Terms or when you otherwise
use the Platform.
While we encourage you to read these Terms in full, click here for a summary of these Terms and
the additional terms and policies which also form part of your contact with us.
In short: This is a contract between you and TikTok. You should read it.

1. Who you are contracting with


The company that you are contracting with depends on where you are resident or have your
principal place of business:
• If you are resident in one of the countries that form the European Economic Area (“EEA”)
or Switzerland, your contract is with TikTok Technology Limited, which is a company
registered in the Republic of Ireland with its registered office at 10 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin,
D02 T380, Ireland and company number 635755.
• If you are resident in the United Kingdom, your contract is with TikTok Information
Technologies UK Limited, which is a company registered in England with its registered
office at 4 Lindsey Street, Barbican, London, EC1A 9HP, United Kingdom and company
number 10165711
In short: The specific TikTok company that you have a contract with depends on where you are
resident. If we say “TikTok”, “we” or “us” in these Terms, we are referring to that specific
company unless we say otherwise.

2. What services are covered by these Terms


These Terms govern your use of TikTok services, which includes TikTok apps (including TikTok
and TikTok Now), websites, software and related services, accessed via any platform or device (the
“Platform”). Our Community Guidelines also form part of our contract with you and, by agreeing
to these Terms, you promise to us that you will comply with them.
The products and services you access through your TikTok For Business, TikTok Ads Manager and
TikTok Business Center accounts are governed by the separate Commercial Terms of Service.
In short: These Terms apply to your use of TikTok apps (including TikTok and TikTok Now),
websites, software and related services however you access them. As part of complying with these
Terms, you must also follow our Community Guidelines.

3. Additional terms and policies that might apply depending


on the features you use
Additional terms and policies may apply to certain products or features of the Platform that we may
make available to you, if you post or live stream certain kinds of content, or if you use the Platform
for business or commercial purposes. The main ones you should be aware of, and which form part
of these Terms, are set out below for your information:
• Coins Policy: This policy governs the purchase and use of virtual coins to activate or access
features on the Platform.
• Rewards Policy: This policy governs the receipt of rewards from TikTok, such as virtual
diamonds.
• Music Terms: These terms apply when you post content on the Platform that includes music
sourced from the music library or your personal device.
• Commercial Music Library Terms: These terms apply if you are a commercial entity or you
want to post content on the Platform that includes music sourced from the Commercial
Music Library.
• Intellectual Property Policy: This policy applies to all content on the Platform that is
protected by intellectual property rights.
• TikTok Shop Buyer Terms: These terms apply when you buy items on TikTok Shop (where
available).
• Branded Content Policy: This policy applies when you post content on the Platform that
promotes a third party brand or its products or services in exchange for payment or any other
incentive.
• Business Terms: These terms apply if you use the Platform for purposes within your trade,
business, craft or profession, including managing your own business through your account
on the Platform or administering an account on behalf of a business.
In short: These Terms cover your use of the Platform. There may be some additional terms and
policies that will apply if you want to access additional functionality, post or live stream certain
kinds of content, or use the Platform for business or commercial purposes.

4. Using the Platform


4.1 Our Platform and business model
We and the companies affiliated with us (such as TikTok Inc. and TikTok Pte. Ltd.) (“Affiliates”)
provide the Platform around the world.
The Platform allows you and others to create, view, interact with, and share content, and interact
with others. We also personalise parts of your experience on the Platform, such as providing your
“For You” feed in the TikTok app. The “For You” feed is a unique TikTok feature that uses a
recommendation system to allow you to discover a breadth of content, creators and topics that are
likely to be interesting for you. In determining what gets recommended, the system takes into
account factors such as likes, shares, comments, searches, diversity of content, and popular videos.
Learn more about the recommendation system and the tools you can use to customise your feed
here.
We want the Platform to be a safe place, so people can be who they are and have fun. We work with
our Affiliates and use a mix of technology (including through automated means), human
moderation, and reports from our users to identify infringements of and enforce these Terms and our
Community Guidelines in order to protect you and all of our users.
We don't charge you a fee to use most of the features of the Platform. Instead, some individuals and
businesses pay us to show advertisements on the Platform, and we may also charge sellers a
commission on products sold on TikTok Shop.
Information on how we use data that we collect about you can be found in our Privacy Policy and
Cookies Policy. These do not form part of these Terms but are important documents which we
strongly recommend that you read.
We charge users for some features of the Platform, for example, if you buy virtual coins (see our
Coins Policy), but such features are voluntary and any costs will be made clear to you before you
are charged anything.
In short: You do not have to pay for your use of most of the features on our Platform but, in
exchange, we allow some individuals and businesses to advertise on the Platform and we receive
payment for this.
4.2 Account details
You can use some basic features of the Platform without having an account. If you use the Platform
without an account, then these Terms will still apply to such use and we will still process your
personal data in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
To access the full functionality of the Platform, you must create an account with us. We may offer
different types of accounts.
When you create an account, your account details will sync across the Platform, including across
each TikTok app. For example, when you create an account via TikTok, you will be able to access
any other TikTok apps available in your country, such as TikTok Now, using that account. Your
account details, content and Platform settings (including your privacy settings), and any changes
you make, will also sync across each TikTok app.
When you create an account to access and use the Platform, you must provide accurate and up-to-
date information about yourself (such as your date of birth). You agree to maintain and promptly
update your details if they change. See our Help Center for information on opening an account.
It is important that you take reasonable steps to keep your account password confidential and that
you do not disclose it to any third party. If you know or suspect that any third party knows your
password or has accessed your account, please let us know straight away here.
In short: Your account is important. Keep it safe. Keep your details up to date. When you create an
account in one TikTok app, you will be able to access other TikTok apps using that account
(provided those apps are available in your country) and your account details, content and settings
will sync across those apps.

4.3 Minimum age


You can only use the Platform if you are 13 years of age or older. We monitor for underage use and
we will terminate your account if we reasonably suspect that you are underage or are allowing
someone underage to use your account. You can appeal our decision to terminate your account if
you think we have made a mistake about your age.
In short: You need to be 13 or over to use our Platform.

4.4 What you can do on the Platform


Under these Terms, you can use the Platform in order to:
• create and share content;
• interact with other users;
• view content created by others; and
• use the features and functionality on the Platform as provided to you from time to time.
See our Help Center for further information about the features of the Platform and how to use them.
The permission we give to you:
• is limited to what we have said we will allow in these Terms;
• is only for you;
• cannot be given to anyone else by you; and
• can be withdrawn for the reasons allowed in these Terms.
Access to certain features of the Platform depends on your age. For example:
• Direct Messaging: You must be aged 16 or older to use the direct messaging functionality.
• TikTok LIVE: You must be aged 18 or older to live stream and use live streaming features.
• Virtual Items: You must be aged 18 or older to interact with virtual items.
In short: You can do many things on our Platform but you might not be able to use every feature if
you are not old enough.

4.5 What you can’t do on the Platform


Our Community Guidelines apply to everyone and to all content on the Platform. If you want to use
the Platform, you can’t create, post, share, link to or otherwise interact with content in breach of our
Community Guidelines.
In any event, you must not use the Platform to:
• do anything illegal (this includes posting, live steaming or distributing illegal content);
• do anything that violates applicable anti-money laundering, counter terrorist financing,
export controls and economic sanctions laws or regulations;
• engage with minors in an exploitative or inappropriate way;
• undermine the Platform’s operations or security;
• engage in inauthentic commercial behaviours such as operating spam or impersonation
accounts or by any other means further detailed in our Community Guidelines;
• submit appeals, reports, notices or complaints which are manifestly unfounded;
• extract any data or content from the Platform using any automated system or software that is
not provided by TikTok or approved in writing by TikTok; or
• use or attempt to use another user’s account without authorisation.
You must also not post, live stream or otherwise distribute any content on the Platform which:
• infringes anyone else’s rights (such as intellectual property, privacy and/or personality rights
of living or deceased people);
• constitutes, encourages or provides instructions for a criminal offence, or dangerous
activities that may lead to serious injury or death or self-harm;
• spreads harmful misinformation such as misinformation that incites hate or prejudice or that
misleads about or improperly influences elections or other civic processes;
• contains a threat of any kind or which intimidates or harasses others, including posting any
material that is intended to mock, humiliate, embarrass, intimidate, or hurt an individual;
• is obscene, pornographic or which promotes sexually explicit material (e.g. by linking to
adult or pornographic websites);
• is hateful or inflammatory;
• contains or promotes violence or discrimination based on race, ethnicity, national origin,
religion, caste, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, serious disease, disability,
immigration status or age; or
• otherwise contains harmful content (such as content that causes physical, mental or moral
detriment to minors).
You can report suspected illegal content or content which otherwise breaches these Terms or our
Community Guidelines through the reporting functionalities provided on the Platform or here.
In short: Enjoy using our Platform but, for the benefit of all our users, there are rules you need to
follow. If you see something that should not be on our Platform, please tell us.

4.6 Your content


It is important that you understand what happens to the content that you create, post or share on the
Platform:
• You are responsible for the content that you make available on the Platform and you should
have all the rights needed to create, post or share content on the Platform.
• When you create, post or share content via one TikTok app, that content may be
automatically posted and shared across other TikTok apps (although your privacy settings
will still apply across each app). For example, when you post a video on TikTok Now, that
video will also be posted and available on TikTok.
• We review content proactively (through systems we have in place which detect illegal and
harmful content) and reactively (for example, on receipt of notice from users or authorities).
To do this we deploy a combination of technology and human moderators. Our approach to
content moderation is further detailed here.
• We may remove or restrict access to any content, including yours, if we reasonably believe
(i) it is in breach of these Terms or our Community Guidelines; or (ii) it causes harm to us,
Affiliates, our users or other third parties. Our Community Guidelines set out how content
might be removed or restricted on the Platform.
• If we remove or restrict access to your content, we will notify you without undue delay and
state the reasons for our decision, unless it is not appropriate for us to do so (for example,
we are legally prevented from doing so).
• If you think we have made a mistake in removing or restricting access to your content, you
can appeal through the appeal functionalities provided on the Platform and we will review
our decision and decide again. Further information on how to submit an appeal, our
complaint handling process and other redress possibilities is set out here.
• You are free to remove your content from the Platform at any time. When you remove your
content from one TikTok app, it will also be removed from other TikTok apps, for example,
when you delete a video you have posted on TikTok Now, it will also be deleted from
TikTok.
• Depending on your Platform settings, if other users of the Platform have used your content
to create new content (e.g. by using Duet or Stitch) or shared your content on third party
services, then that new content may stay on the Platform or those third party services even if
you subsequently delete your content or your account. You may make a separate request for
Duet or Stitch videos that contain your content to be deleted.
• You can restrict how other users interact with and use your content in your Platform settings.
You should familiarise yourself with these settings before you post content on the Platform.

4.7 Posting Branded Content


If you post content on the Platform that promotes a third party brand or its products or services in
exchange for payment or any other incentive then, unless you are using one of TikTok’s paid ad
services (e.g. Promote or TikTok Ads Manager), which are each subject to their own terms, you
must comply with the Branded Content Policy. You must use appropriate disclosures including any
functionality the Platform provides to ensure that any posts that are, for example, sponsored are
clear.
In short: Where you post about a brand or a product or service in return for any payment or other
incentive then you should read our Branded Content Policy and ensure you follow those additional
rules.

4.8 Respecting the intellectual property rights of others


• We respect copyright and other intellectual property rights. Please read our Intellectual
Property Policy. You can report suspected infringements of intellectual property rights on
the Platform here:
• Copyright: https://www.tiktok.com/legal/report/Copyright
• Trademark: https://www.tiktok.com/legal/report/Trademark
In short: You should read our Intellectual Property Policy and follow those additional rules.

4.9 Ownership of content and grant of licences


We don’t own your content. If you are the owner of the intellectual property rights in the content
that you make available on the Platform, then nothing in these Terms changes that.
To provide the Platform, we need certain rights from you (called a licence). The details of these
licences are set out below.
By creating, posting or otherwise making content available on the Platform, you grant to TikTok a:
• non-exclusive (which means that you can licence your content to others),
• royalty-free (which means that we don’t pay you for this licence),
• transferable (which means that we can give the rights you give us to someone else),
• sub-licensable (which means that we can licence your content to others, e.g. to service
providers that help us to provide the Platform or to trusted third parties that have entered
into agreements with us to operate, develop and provide the Platform) and
• worldwide (which means that the licence applies anywhere in the world)
licence to use your content, including to reproduce (e.g. to copy), adapt or make derivative works
(e.g. to translate and/or create captions), perform and communicate your content to the public (e.g.
to display it), for the purposes of operating, developing and providing the Platform, subject to your
Platform settings.
The licence to your content that you grant to us extends to Affiliates as part of making the Platform
available.
You also grant to each user of the Platform a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to
access and use your content, including to reproduce (e.g. to copy, share or download), adapt or
make derivative works (e.g. to include your content in their content) perform and communicate that
content to the public (e.g. to display it) using the features and functions of the Platform for
entertainment purposes, subject to your Platform settings.
Your licences to TikTok and to users end when you close your account or when you or we remove
your content from the Platform in accordance with these Terms. However, due to the nature of the
Platform and our legal obligations, the licence granted will continue after you have removed your
content to the extent that:
• you have allowed, via your Platform settings, other users of the Platform to use or reuse
your content (e.g. by using Duet, Stitch, download or share functionalities); or
• we are obliged to store or process your content for legal reasons.
If you choose to submit comments, ideas or feedback to us, you agree that we are free to use them
for the purposes of operating, developing, improving and providing the Platform without
compensation to you.
In short: When you post content to the Platform, it remains yours, but we can use it to provide the
Platform, and if you choose to make your content available to others, we can show it to other users
and those other users may be able to use it too. That is what our Platform is all about. If you later
take it down, copies of it made by other users may remain on the Platform.

5. What we promise to you


We promise to provide the Platform to you with reasonable skill and care and to act with
professional diligence for so long as we choose to offer the Platform. We will also take all
reasonable steps to keep the Platform a safe and secure environment for our users. We do not
promise to offer the Platform forever or in its current form for any particular period of time.
The content on the Platform is mostly user generated content provided by the individuals and
businesses that use our Platform. In other words, TikTok is not the creator of most of the content on
the Platform (although TikTok may produce some content). Therefore, subject to any mandatory
regulations or laws (including sectorial regulations or laws) applicable to TikTok, TikTok cannot
and does not promise that any of the content generated by users that you find on the Platform:
• is accurate, complete or up-to-date;
• does not infringe third party rights;
• is legal; or that it
• will not offend you.
You understand and agree that the content you may see on the Platform does not represent our
views or values and may not be suited to your purpose.
The Platform may contain links to third party websites, advertisements, services, offers or other
events or activities that are not provided, owned or controlled by TikTok. We do not endorse any
such third party websites, advertisements, services, offers, events, activities, information, materials
or products. You use them at your own risk.
Provided that we have acted with professional diligence, we do not take responsibility for loss or
damage caused by us, unless it is:
• caused by our breach of these Terms; or
• reasonably foreseeable at the time of entering into these Terms (i.e. either it is obvious that it
will happen or, at the time of this contract, it is known that it might happen).
We do not take responsibility for loss or damage if it is caused by events beyond our reasonable
control.
Nothing in these Terms affects any statutory rights that you cannot contractually agree to alter or
give up, or are legally always entitled to, for example, because you are a consumer.
We do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. You
will always have the full protections of the laws that apply to you.
If you are an EEA-based consumer, then EEA consumer laws provide you with a legal guarantee
covering the Platform. If you have any questions about your legal guarantee, please contact us here.
In short: We will always seek to provide you with a great and safe user experience, but you take the
Platform as it is and understand that we do not control everything that is on it. We also cannot
promise that all the content posted on the Platform is to your liking. If you are an EEA consumer,
you have a legal guarantee covering the Platform, and you can make a guarantee claim by
contacting us.

6. Suspending or ending our relationship


6.1 Your rights
You may end your relationship with TikTok at any time by simply closing your account and
stopping your use of the Platform. Instructions for how to do this are in our Help Center. If you are
an EEA-based consumer, then you can also close your account and withdraw from this contract at
any time, either in-app or using the model withdrawal form here.
Your account applies across the TikTok app and website, TikTok Now, and any other TikTok
services to which you have linked your account, so when you close your account within one TikTok
app, you will lose access to your content and account across all other TikTok services which are
connected to that account.
However, depending on your Platform settings, some of your content may still be available on the
Platform after you delete your account.
In short: We want you to stay, but you can go whenever you want if you close your account and stop
using the Platform.

6.2 TikTok’s rights


In the event of any suspected breach of these Terms or our Community Guidelines, we may
investigate. While we do so, we are allowed to take down some or all of your content, or suspend
your access to some or all the features of the Platform, acting reasonably and objectively depending
on the seriousness of the suspected breach.
We, subsequently, might determine to temporarily suspend or permanently terminate your account,
or impose limits on, or restrict your access to features of the Platform if:
• we determine, acting reasonably and objectively, that you are in material or repeated breach
of these Terms or our Community Guidelines;
• we have objective grounds to reasonably believe that you are about to seriously breach these
Terms or our Community Guidelines;
• we are legally required to do so; or
• it is reasonably required in response to dealing with a serious technical or security issue.
We record the number of times your account has violated our Terms. Repeated violations or a single
severe violation may result in a permanent account ban. For more information see here.
If we have previously terminated your account for breaches of these Terms or Community
Guidelines, but you use our Platform again (for example, by opening another account), we are
entitled to suspend or terminate any such accounts.
We will notify you in advance in order to allow you time to download your data in-app (more
information about how to do this is available here), unless it is not appropriate for us to do so or we
reasonably believe that continued access to your account will cause damage to us, Affiliates, our
users or other third parties, or we are legally prevented from doing so.
If you think we have made a mistake in suspending or terminating your account, you can appeal
through the appeal functionalities provided on the Platform and we will review our decision and
decide again.
For the avoidance of doubt, if we suspend or terminate your account, or you delete your account,
you will lose access to all TikTok apps, including TikTok and TikTok Now.
In short: We have rules and, if you break them, TikTok can take action against you which may
include terminating your account.

7. Changes to these Terms or the Platform


7.1 What happens when we make changes
We may make changes to these Terms or the Platform from time to time. If we do, we will consider
your reasonable interests before doing so.
We will also give you reasonable advance notice, in a transparent manner, of significant changes
which will impact you and the date that they will come into force. The changes will only apply to
our relationship going forward.
Where we need to make urgent changes for security, safety, legal or regulatory requirements, we
may not be able to provide you with advance notice, but we will let you know as soon as we are
able to.
If you do not agree to the changes to the Terms or the Platform, you will have to stop using the
Platform.
In short: If these Terms change, we will tell you. It won’t change anything between us that has
happened already but, if you want to keep using the Platform in the future, you will need to agree to
the changes. Our Platform will evolve as we improve it.
7.2 Reasons for changes
Reasons that we might make changes to these Terms or the Platform are:
• changes in circumstances beyond our reasonable control;
• changes in the law;
• changes we make to the Platform in the usual course of developing our product;
• to adapt to new technologies;
• to reflect changes in the number of people who use the Platform or any relevant feature or
functionality of the Platform; or
• to address a security issue.
In short: Our Platform will not stay the same forever, but we will be transparent when we make
major changes.

8. Resolving disputes
These Terms are governed by the law of the jurisdiction in which you are a resident.
If we have a dispute, we will first try and resolve it with you amicably.
If we cannot resolve our dispute, you or we can go to your local courts. You can also go to the
following courts:
• the courts of the Republic of Ireland will have non-exclusive jurisdiction over disputes with
TikTok Technology Limited; and
• the courts of England & Wales will have non-exclusive jurisdiction over disputes with
TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited.
If you are resident in the EEA, you can also raise the dispute with an alternative dispute resolution
body via the EU Commission’s Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) Platform.
In short: We hope we do not get into a dispute but, if we do, there are a couple of ways we can try to
resolve it.

9. Other
These Terms, and any rights and permissions granted in them, may not be transferred or assigned by
you, but may be assigned by TikTok without restriction. If we do so, this will not affect any rights
you may have as a consumer. And, if you are not happy, you always have the right to terminate this
contract and stop using the Platform at any time.
In short: We have no plans to do so, but, if in the future we sell all or part of, or re-organise our
business, another company may end up providing the Platform to you.
We may reclaim your account name and might make it available to other users when you have not
logged into your account for 6 months or if we reasonably believe that your account name violates
our Terms and/or Community Guidelines (e.g. your account name violates third party trademark).
In short: We may reclaim your account name in certain circumstances.
Even if we or you delay in enforcing a provision of these Terms, either of us can still enforce it
later. If we or you do not insist immediately that you or we do anything the other is required to do
under these Terms, or if there is a delay in taking steps against the other in respect of breaching
these Terms, that will not mean that we or you do not have to do those things and it will not prevent
us or you from taking steps against the other at a later date.
In short: Just because you or we do not rely on one of these Terms, this does not change the fact
that we both agree that these Terms, as written, are the agreement between us.

10. Contacting TikTok


You can contact us here: Share your feedback
In some countries, the law requires us to provide additional regulatory information and/or contact
points within the country, even though we may not be physically present there. You can find this
information here.
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Model Withdrawal form

(complete and return this form only if you wish to withdraw from the contract)
To: [TikTok Technology Limited 10 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin, D02 T380, Ireland] / [TikTok
Information Technologies UK Limited, 4 Lindsey Street, Barbican, London, EC1A 9HP, United
Kingdom] / [withdrawal@tiktok.com]
I/We (*) hereby give notice that I/We (*) withdraw from my/our (*) contract of sale of the following
goods / for the provision of the following services (*): [insert the name of the goods or services]
— Ordered on (*)/ Received on(*): [Insert date that goods/services were ordered / received]
— Name of consumer(s): [Insert your name]
— Address of consumer(s): [Insert your address]
— Signature of consumer(s): [Please sign if this form is notified on paper]
— Date: [Insert the date]
(*) Delete as appropriate
Content violations and bans

Jump to section

About content moderation on TikTok • How does TikTok detect violations and
enforce its Community Guidelines? • What happens if your TikTok content is
under review? • What happens to your TikTok account if your content is
removed? • What happens if your video is ineligible for the For You feed? •
When does TikTok permanently ban accounts? • How will you know if your
TikTok account is permanently banned? • Do strikes on your TikTok account
expire? • How to access your TikTok account after it's banned • How to appeal
if your content is removed or your TikTok account is banned • Can you create a
new TikTok account after a ban? • How does TikTok enforce its Community
Guidelines for government, politicians, and news accounts?

About content moderation on TikTok

Our Community Guidelines provide guidance on what is and what isn't allowed on TikTok to help
foster a welcoming, safe, and entertaining experience. We've developed tools and technology to
identify and remove harmful content and behavior that goes against our Community Guidelines.
These tools help us advance the safety of our community and maintain the integrity of our platform.

How does TikTok detect violations and enforce its Community Guidelines?

We use both automated and human evaluation to detect and take action against violations of our
Community Guidelines. If we find violations and remove that content, the account owner will be
notified.
What happens if your TikTok content is under review?

If your TikTok content is under review, it will be reviewed by our Trust and Safety team to
determine whether it should be removed or made ineligible for the For You feed according to our
Community Guidelines. This may happen when you upload content, if it gains popularity, or if it's
reported.

If a violation is identified:
• We'll remove the content and, if so, notify you of the reason.
• You'll be given the opportunity to appeal the decision.

What happens to your TikTok account if your content is removed?

If you post content that violates our Community Guidelines, we'll notify you of the consequences in
the Account Updates section of your Inbox. You can view a record of your violations in your
Account Status.

Our system counts the number of times your account has violated our Community Guidelines, and
for each of those violations, you'll receive a strike on your account. We count strikes by policy area
as listed in our Community Guidelines (for example, safety and civility) or by feature (for example,
comments or direct messages) and your account will receive a strike based on the severity of the
policy violation. We'll count the strikes until your account reaches the threshold for a permanent
account ban. We'll notify you if you're on the verge of being banned.

For repeated violations or depending on the severity of a single violation, we may permanently ban
your account. In some cases, for violations when using certain features such as LIVE or direct
messages, we may temporarily restrict access to the feature while your content is under review to
ensure that you don't immediately re-engage in violative behavior.
What happens if your video is ineligible for the For You feed?

If we determine your video isn't eligible for the For You feed, you can review the reason, submit
your feedback on our decision, and appeal if you believe we've made a mistake. Keep in mind that
you'll need to turn on analytics in your TikTok settings to view our decision.
Note: This feature isn't available in the U.S.

To turn on analytics on your videos:


1. In the TikTok app, tap Profile at the bottom.
2. Tap the Menu button at the top.
3. Tap Settings and privacy.
4. Tap Creator Tools.
5. Tap Analytics.
6. Tap Turn on.

To get more details on our decision:


1. In the TikTok app, go to the video you'd like to know more about.
2. Tap the Share button on the side of the video, then tap Analytics. Alternatively, tap More data at
the bottom.
3. At the top of the Performance tab, tap the notification that your video isn't eligible for the For
You feed.
4. Review the feedback. You can choose Yes or No to whether or not you understand why your
video isn't eligible for the For You feed. If you choose No, you can follow the instructions provided
on the next screen to share feedback and help us improve our moderation capabilities.

If you don't agree with our decision that your video is ineligible for the For You feed, you can
submit an appeal.

To appeal our decision:


1. In the TikTok app, go to the video that is ineligible for the For You feed.
2. Tap the Share button on the side of the video, then tap Analytics. Alternatively, tap More data at
the bottom.
3. At the top of the Performance tab, tap the notification that your video isn't eligible for the For
You feed.
4. Tap Appeal at the top.

You can also submit an appeal after submitting feedback on why you disagree with our decision.
When does TikTok permanently ban accounts?

We may permanently ban accounts if we identify the following violations of our Community
Guidelines and Terms of Service:
1. You don't meet the minimum age or other requirements as indicated in our Terms of Service.
2. The account impersonates another person or entity in a deceptive manner.
3. You have a severe violation on your account:
༚ Post, promote, or facilitate youth exploitation or child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
༚ Promote or threaten violence.
༚ Post or promote content that depicts non-consensual sex acts such as rape or molestation.
༚ Post content that facilitates human trafficking.
༚ Post content that depicts real-world torture.
༚ Create or use another TikTok account to intentionally avoid restrictions or a permanent ban
imposed on another account.
4. Your account has reached the strike threshold for multiple violations within a policy or feature.
5. Multiple violations of our Intellectual Property Policy.

How will you know if your TikTok account is permanently banned?

If your account has been banned, you'll receive a banner notification when you try to log in,
informing you of the ban. You can also check your violations in the Account Status section of your
Inbox through the banner notification.

Do strikes on your TikTok account expire?

Strikes on your TikTok account will expire after 90 days and will no longer be taken into
consideration for a permanent account ban.
How to access your TikTok account after it's banned

If your account is banned, you can log in to the account to submit an appeal and download your
personal data. Keep in mind, we'll delete your personal data after a period of time in accordance
with applicable laws and our data retention policy. After the deletion, your account will no longer be
available.

How to appeal if your content is removed or your TikTok account is banned

If you believe your content or account has been removed by mistake, you can appeal this decision.

If your appeal is approved:


• Your content or account will be reinstated (unless you've already deleted the account or content).
• The strike will be removed from your account.

Note: Deleting your content does not remove strikes, and we may still issue strikes after you delete
violative content.

Can you create a new TikTok account after a ban?

You can create multiple accounts on TikTok. However, we may restrict or permanently ban your
account if you make any attempts to avoid a restriction or ban imposed on another account you
own, including:
1. Create a new account after your account has been banned for a severe violation.
2. Post violative content on a new or existing account.
3. Spread content violations across multiple accounts.

This applies for as long as the restriction remains active on your other account.
How does TikTok enforce its Community Guidelines for government, politician,
and news accounts?

We use the same content moderation practices for Government, Politician, and Political Party
Accounts and news entities as we do for other TikTok accounts. This means we'll remove any
violative content and permanently remove the account for any single severe content violation, such
as showing real-world violence or torture. However, because of the role these public interest
accounts play in civic processes and civil society, we enforce different account restrictions in
keeping with our commitment to human rights and free expression. If they reach the strike limit set
for all accounts, they'll be temporarily ineligible to appear in the For You and Following feeds for
90 days.

In some cases, where public interest accounts may present a particularly high risk to public safety—
such as during periods of civil unrest, elections, or other high-risk social and political environments
—we may impose other restrictions. If a public interest account posts content during high-risk times
that promotes violence, hate, or misinformation that could undermine a civic process or contribute
to real-world harm, we may restrict that account from posting content for a period of 7 to 30 days,
depending on the severity of the violation and surrounding risk. We may extend the restriction
period if we determine that the actions of the account owner indicate they're likely to continue
violations and public safety is still at high risk. We may also consider behavior outside of TikTok in
our decision.

https://support.tiktok.com/en/safety-hc/account-and-user-safety/content-violations-and-bans
How TikTok recommends content

Jump to a section

How recommendation systems work • How TikTok recommends content in For


You • How to influence what you see on your For You feed • Other factors that
influence how TikTok recommends content

How recommendation systems work

TikTok's mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. We have a wide variety of content and we
want you to discover interesting and relevant videos. That’s why we use recommendation systems
to offer you a personalized experience. These systems suggest content based on user preferences as
expressed through interactions on our platform, such as following an account or liking a post. Your
interactions act as signals that help the recommendation system predict content you're more likely
to be interested in as well as the content you might be less interested in and may prefer to skip.

How TikTok recommends content in For You

When you open TikTok, you'll see the For You feed which displays a stream of videos just for you,
so you can find content and creators you love. The For You feed's recommendation system selects
videos from a large collection of eligible content and ranks them based on the system's prediction
on how likely you’ll be interested in each video. This means everyone has a unique For You feed –
while some may see the same videos, each user's For You feed is unique and tailored to that specific
person.

When you sign up for TikTok, we may invite you to select categories of interest, like pets or travel,
which help us form your feed. If you don't select any categories of interest, we start by offering you
a feed of recent videos which are popular with others on TikTok. When selecting your initial set of
videos, the recommendation system looks for popular videos that are appropriate for a broad
audience and influenced by your country and language settings. Once you start engaging with
content on TikTok, things like your views, skips, likes, comments, shares, and other interactions
will shape your For You feed as the system begins to learn more about your preferences.
Recommendations in your For You feed are based on a number of factors, including:
• User interactions such as the videos you like, share, comment on, watch in full or skip, accounts
you follow, accounts that follow you, and when you create content.
• Video information such as captions, sounds, hashtags, number of video views, and the country in
which the video was published.
• User information such as your device and account settings, language preference, country, time
zone and day, and device type.

We consider all these factors to predict how relevant and interesting content might be to a viewer.
Different factors can play a larger or smaller role in what's recommended, and the importance—or
weighting—of a factor can change dynamically. For instance, the time spent watching a specific
video is generally weighted more heavily than other factors. However, if a viewer never finishes
watching any videos, but watches a lot of videos posted by creators in the same region, then that
region may have a relatively stronger weight compared to other factors for that viewer. Factors like
device settings generally receive lower weight compared to other factors. These predictions are also
influenced by the interactions of other people on TikTok who appear to have similar interests. For
example, if User A likes videos 1, 2, and 3 and User B likes videos 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, the
recommendation system may predict User A will also like videos 4 and 5.

Learn more about why a specific video is recommended to you in our For You article.

How to influence what you see on your For You feed

Every new interaction helps the system learn about your interests and recommend content – so one
of the best ways to influence your For You feed is to simply use and enjoy TikTok. The content you
see on your For You feed should become more relevant the more you use TikTok.

You can also use the following features to help shape what you see on your For You feed:
• Not interested: If you don't care for a specific video, you can let us know by sharing feedback
you're not interested and we'll show you fewer videos like it.
• Refresh your feed: If the recommendations on your For You feed don't feel relevant to you
anymore, or you're looking for more variety in your feed, you can refresh your For You feed to view
a new set of popular videos, as if you've just signed up for TikTok.
• Filter video keywords: Filter out specific words or hashtags from the content recommended to
you in your For You and Following feeds.
Other factors that influence how TikTok recommends content

We designed the For You feed's recommendation system to continuously improve, correct, and learn
from your engagement on TikTok, as well as to take other important considerations into account
when recommending content for you.

Diversifying recommendations
At times you may come across a video in your For You feed that doesn't appear to be relevant to
your expressed interests. This is because we aim to provide a diversity of content into your For You
feed that gives you additional opportunities to discover new content categories, creators, and
experience new perspectives and ideas. It also allows the recommendation system to get a better
sense of what is popular among a wider range of audiences. Our goal is to find balance between
suggesting content that's relevant to you while also allowing you to discover new and diverse
content and creators.

Safeguarding your experience


Our recommendation system is designed with safety as a key consideration, and we remove content
that has been identified as violating our Community Guidelines.

Our safety team takes additional precautions to review videos as they rise in popularity to reduce
the likelihood of recommending content that may not be suitable for everyone on TikTok. For
example, we strive to not recommend—or to limit the recommendation of—certain categories of
content that may not be suitable for a general audience, even if that content is not removed from
TikTok altogether. You can learn more about our content eligibility standards for the For You feed in
our Community Guidelines.
Privacy Policy

• Introduction
• What Information We Collect
• How We Use Your Information
• How We Share Your Information
• Our Legal Bases and How We Process Your Information
• Your Rights and Choices
• Data Security and Retention
• Our Global Operations and Data Transfers
• Younger Users
• Privacy Policy Updates
• Contact Us

EEA/UK/CH
Privacy Policy
Our new Privacy Policy comes into effect on 19 November 2023. Click here to view our current
Privacy Policy.
Effective Date: 19 November 2023

Introduction
This privacy policy ("Privacy Policy") applies to the personal information that TikTok processes in
connection with TikTok apps, websites, software and related services (the “Platform”), that link to
or reference this Privacy Policy.
Data Controller: If you live in the European Economic Area (“EEA”), the United Kingdom
(“UK”), or Switzerland, TikTok Technology Limited, an Irish company (“TikTok Ireland”), and
TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited (“TikTok UK”), a UK company, ("TikTok," "our,"
"we," or "us") are the joint controllers of your information processed in connection with this
Privacy Policy.

What Information We Collect


We collect your information in three ways: Information You Provide, Automatically Collected
Information, and Information From Other Sources. More detail is provided below.

Information You Provide


• Profile Information. We collect information that you provide when you set up an account,
such as your date of birth, username, email address and/or telephone number, and password.
You can add other information to your profile, such as a bio or a profile photo.
• User Content. We collect the content you create or publish through the Platform, such as
photographs, videos, audio recordings, livestreams, comments, hashtags, feedback, reviews,
and the associated metadata (such as when, where, and by whom the content was created).
Even if you are not a user, information about you may appear in content created or published
by users on the Platform. We collect User Content through pre-loading at the time of
creation, import, or upload, regardless of whether you choose to save or upload that User
Content, for example, to recommend music based on the video. We also collect content
(such as text, images, and video) from your device's clipboard if you choose to copy and
paste content to or from the Platform or share content between it and a third party platform.
In addition, we collect location information (such as tourist attractions, shops, or other
points of interest) if you choose to add the location information to your User Content.
• Direct Messages. If you communicate with others using direct messages, we collect the
content of the message and the associated metadata (such as the time the message was sent,
received and/or read, as well as the participants in the communication). We also collect the
messages you send or receive through our chat functionality when communicating with
merchants who sell goods to you, and your use of virtual assistants when purchasing items
through the Platform. We do this to block spam, detect crime, and to safeguard our users.
• Your Contacts. If you choose to sync your contacts, we will collect information from your
device’s phone book such as names, phone numbers, and email addresses, and match that
information to users of the Platform. If you choose to find other users through your social
network contacts, we will collect your public profile information as well as names and
profiles of your social network contacts.
• Purchase Information. When you make a purchase or payment on or through the Platform,
including when you buy TikTok Coins or purchase goods through our shopping features, we
collect information about the purchase or payment transaction, such as payment card
information, billing, delivery, and contact information, and items you purchased.
• Surveys, Research, and Promotions. We collect Information You Provide if you choose to
participate in a survey, research, promotion, contest, marketing campaign, or event
conducted or sponsored by us.
• Information When You Contact Us. When you contact us, we collect the information you
send us, such as proof of identity or age, feedback or inquiries about your use of the
Platform or information about possible violations of our Terms of Service (our “Terms”),
Community Guidelines (our “Guidelines”), or other policies.
• Information From Forms and Features You Use. We collect the Information You Provide
when you fill in a form on the Platform. , you can let TikTok fill in forms automatically with
your account info, like your addresses or payment info.

Automatically Collected Information


• Technical Information. We collect certain device and network connection information
when you access the Platform. This information includes your device model, operating
system, keystroke patterns or rhythms, IP address, and system language. We also collect
service-related, diagnostic, and performance information, including crash reports and
performance logs. We automatically assign you a device ID and user ID. Where you log-in
from multiple devices, we use information such as your device ID and user ID to identify
your activity across devices to give you a seamless log-in experience and for security
purposes.
• Location Information. We automatically collect information about your approximate
location (e.g. country, state, or city) based on your Technical Information (such as SIM card
and IP address). Also, where you enable location services for the TikTok app within your
device settings, we collect approximate location information from your device. Click here to
learn more about how we collect Location Information.
• Usage Information. We collect information about how you engage with the Platform,
including information about the content you view, the duration and frequency of your use,
your engagement with other users, your search history and your settings.
• Content Characteristics and Features. We detect and collect characteristics and features
about the videos, images, and audio recordings that are part of your User Content, for
example, by identifying objects and scenery, the existence or location within an image of a
face or other body parts; and the text of words spoken in your User Content. We do this, for
example, for content moderation and to provide special effects (such as video filters and
avatars) and captions.
• Inferred Information. We infer your attributes (such as age-range and gender) and interests
based on the information we have about you. We use inferences, for example, to keep the
Platform safe, for content moderation and, where permitted, to serve you personalised ads
based on your interests.
• Cookies. We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to operate and provide the
Platform. For example, we use cookies to remember your language preferences, make sure
you don’t see the same video more than once, and for security purposes. We also use these
technologies for marketing purposes. To learn more about our use of cookies, please see our
Web Cookies Policy and Platform Cookies Policy. We will obtain your consent to our use of
cookies where required by law.

Information From Other Sources


• Advertising, Measurement and Other Partners. Advertisers, measurement and other
partners share information with us about you and the actions you have taken outside of the
Platform, such as your activities on other websites and apps or in stores, including the
products or services you purchased, online or in person. These partners also share
information with us, such as mobile identifiers for advertising, hashed email addresses and
phone numbers, and cookie identifiers, which we use to help match you and your actions
outside of the Platform with your TikTok account. Some of our advertisers and other
partners enable us to collect similar information directly from their website or app by
integrating our TikTok Advertiser Tools (such as TikTok Pixel).
• Merchants, Payment and Transaction Fulfillment Providers. We receive information
about you from merchants as well as payment and transaction fulfillment providers, such as
payment confirmation details, and information about the delivery of products you have
purchased through our shopping features.
• Third Party Platforms and Partners. Third party platforms provide us with information
(such as your email address, user ID, and public profile) when you choose to sign up for or
log in to the Platform using sign-in features provided by those third parties. We may also
receive contact information that you hold or is held about you when contact information is
synced with our Platform by you or another user. When you interact with any third party
service (such as third party apps, websites or products) that integrate TikTok Developer
Tools, we will receive the information necessary to provide you with features like cross-
service authentication or cross-posting. For example, this will happen if you log in to
another platform with your TikTok account or if you use TikTok’s “share” button on a third
party platform to share content from there to the Platform. We may also receive information
from third party providers which we use for safety purposes, including to protect users on
the Platform and for content moderation.
• Additional Sources. We may collect or receive information about you from organisations,
businesses, people, and others, including, for example, publicly available sources,
government authorities, professional organisations, and charity groups. We also collect
information about you where you are included or mentioned in User Content, Direct
Messages, in a complaint, appeal, request or feedback submitted by a user or third party, or
if your contact information is provided to us by a user.

How We Use Your Information


We use your information to operate, provide, develop, and improve the Platform, including for the
following purposes. You can find more detail in “Our Legal Bases and How We Process Your
Information”.
• Provide and administer the Platform, such as enabling you to create, share, and consume
content, to interact with other users and their content, and provide user support.
• Provide our shopping features and facilitate the purchase and delivery of products, goods
and services, including sharing your information with merchants, payment and transaction
fulfilment providers, and other service providers in order to process your orders.
• Personalise and customise certain features and content on the Platform, such as providing
your “For You” feed.
• Enforce our Terms, Guidelines, and other policies that apply to you. We review User
Content and other information through a mix of technology (including through automated
means) and human moderation to protect the safety and well-being of our community.
• Provide certain interactive features, such as enabling your content to be used in other users’
videos, and to suggest your account to other users to help connect you with other users.
• Provide and improve our advertising services, including to serve ads (including personalised
ads, where permitted) and to measure and understand the effectiveness of the ads and other
content.
• Maintain and enhance the safety, security, and stability of the Platform by identifying and
addressing technical or security issues or problems (such as technical bugs, spam accounts,
and detecting abuse, fraud, and illegal activity).
• Review, improve, and develop the Platform, including by monitoring interactions and usage
across your devices, analysing how people are using it, and by training, testing, and
improving our technology, such as our machine learning models and algorithms.
• Share your information with third party platforms to provide you with features, like content
sharing at your request when you integrate your TikTok account with a third party service.
• Facilitate research conducted by independent researchers that meets certain criteria.
• Promote the Platform or third party services through marketing communications, contests, or
promotions.
• Comply with our legal obligations, or as necessary to perform tasks in the public interest, or
to protect the vital interests of our users and other people.
How We Share Your Information
Service Providers
We engage service providers that help us provide, support, and develop the Platform and understand
how it is used. They provide services such as: cloud hosting, content delivery, customer and
technical support, content moderation, marketing, analytics, and online payments.
We share Information You Provide, Automatically Collected Information, and Information From
Other Sources with these service providers as necessary to enable them to provide their services.

Partners
Third Party Platforms and Partners. We share limited information which may include
Information You Provide, Technical Information, and Usage Information with third party platforms
and partners whose platform or services are integrated with the Platform. We do this to give you a
seamless experience, allow your content to be shared on other platforms, and/or enable third party
platforms and partners to better authenticate users. Some examples include if you:
• log-in to a third party platform using your account, we will share your basic account
information and any other Information You Provide,
• sign-up or log-in to the Platform using your account details from a third party platform (such
as Facebook or Google), we will share certain Technical Information to facilitate this,
• share User Content you publish on the Platform on other social media platforms, we will
share your User Content and related information.

Advertisers. We provide advertisers with aggregate information about the performance of their ads
and other content on the Platform in order to help them measure their effectiveness. We create this
aggregate information using Information You Provide, Automatically Collected Information, and
Information From Other Sources. We share your information directly with advertisers where you
give us your permission.
Measurement and Data Partners. We also share Information You Provide, Technical Information
and Usage Information with third party measurement providers who help us measure advertising
served on the Platform and help our advertisers determine how effective their ads have been.
Merchants, Payment and Transaction Fulfilment Providers, and Other Service Providers.
When you make a purchase through the shopping features on our Platform, we share Purchase
Information related to the transaction with the merchant, payment and transaction fulfilment
providers, and other service providers. For example, we will share the order items, contact details
and delivery information so your order can be processed. We may also share certain Technical
Information about your device or connection with these parties to help ensure the security of the
transaction.

Our Corporate Group


As a global company, the Platform is supported by certain entities within our corporate group
(“Corporate Group”). These entities process Information You Provide, Automatically Collected
Information, and Information From Other Sources for us, as necessary to provide certain functions,
such as storage, content delivery, security, research and development, analytics, online payments,
customer and technical support, and content moderation. See Our Global Operations and Data
Transfers for additional information.

Others
We share your information in other limited scenarios as follows:
Users and the Public. Based on your privacy settings, your information, including your Profile
Information, User Content, and Usage Information may be visible to other users and the public. For
example, if you have a public account and have not restricted the visibility of your posts
individually, your Profile Information and User Content can be viewed or shared by anyone on or
off the Platform, whether or not they have a TikTok account. Depending on your privacy settings,
your Profile Information and User Content may also appear on search engines, content aggregators,
and news sites. You can learn about account types and privacy settings, including how to limit the
audience for your videos here.
Users of Our Analytics Services. We provide aggregated statistics and insights to help people and
businesses understand how people are engaging with the Platform. For example, creators and
advertisers can receive information about the number of views, likes, comments and shares of their
videos, as well as aggregate demographic information about their followers and the viewers of their
videos. We create this aggregate information using Information You Provideand Automatically
Collected Information.
Independent Researchers: We share your information with independent researchers to facilitate
research that meets certain criteria as described in Our Legal Bases and How We Process Your
Information.
Corporate Transactions. Your information may be disclosed to third parties in connection with a
corporate transaction, such as a merger, sale of assets or shares, reorganisation, financing, change of
control, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business.
Legal Obligations and Rights. We may access, preserve, and share the information described in
"What Information We Collect" with law enforcement agencies, public authorities, researchers,
copyright holders, or other third parties if we have good faith belief that it is necessary to:
• comply with applicable law, legal process or government requests, as consistent with
internationally recognised standards,
• protect the rights, property, and safety of our users, copyright holders, and others, including
to protect life or prevent imminent bodily harm. For example, we may provide information
(such as your IP address) to law enforcement in the event of an emergency where someone’s
life or safety is at risk,
• investigate potential violations of and enforce our Terms, Guidelines, or any other applicable
terms, policies, or standards, or
• detect, investigate, prevent, or address misleading activity, copyright infringement, or other
illegal activity.
To learn more about how we handle requests from law enforcement agencies and public authorities,
see our Law Enforcement Guidelines.
Our Legal Bases and How We Process Your Information
We may only use your information when we have a “legal basis” to do so. We use different legal
bases depending on why we use your information (in other words, the “purpose” of our processing).
These legal bases are contractual necessity, legitimate interests (ours, yours or those of another
party), consent, compliance with a legal obligation, performing a task in the public interest, and
protection of vital interests.
Here we explain the legal bases we rely on when we process your information. This section also
describes why we use your information, how this information is processed, the categories of
information involved, and the associated rights (which always includes the right to access your
information). For more information on how to exercise any of your rights, please check out the
“Your Rights and Choices” section in the Privacy Policy.

Contractual Necessity
If you have the legal capacity to enter into an enforceable contract, we use Information You
Provide, Automatically Collected Information, and Information From Other Sources where it is
necessary to perform the contract you enter into (our Terms) when you register for, access, or use
the Platform. This means we use your information to:
• Provide you with the Platform. We use your information to allow you to access and use the
Platform, including allowing you to create and consume content, interact with others, utilise
social features, and provide you with products and services you purchase. We also
personalise certain features and content on the Platform, such as providing your “For You”
feed, which shows you videos that we think you would be interested in (see here for more
information) and by suggesting accounts to you.
• Product orders and deliveries. We use your information to process orders, such as to
facilitate the purchase and delivery of products, and communicate with you about your
orders. This includes sharing Purchase Information with Merchants, Payment and
Transaction Fulfilment Providers, and Other Service Providers
• Enforce our Terms, Guidelines, or policies. We use your information to enforce our Terms,
Guidelines, and policies (including through automated means and human moderation). This
may include age restricting mature content, maintaining our For You feed eligibility
standards, removing content or suspending or banning your account if we determine that you
are violating our Terms or Guidelines.
• Administer the Platform. We also use the information we have to administer the Platform,
such as to communicate with you on service related matters, provide you with updates and
support regarding any purchase you make on or through the Platform, and respond to and
process your queries, claims or disputes (including when you tell us about a problem, or ask
for a copy of your information).
Your Rights: Whenever we use your information on the basis that it is necessary for the contract we
have with you, you have the right to port information you have provided to us.
Legitimate Interests
We use your information where this is necessary to achieve legitimate interests - whether belonging
to us, you, or a third party - provided these interests are not outweighed by your interests or
fundamental rights and freedoms. We use the information we collect to:
Enable users to create content with interactive features.
• Interactive features, like Duet and Stitch, enable other users to include your videos in their
videos (if you allow this in your settings).
• Legitimate Interest relied upon: To provide users with tools to inspire creativity,
collaboration, and enjoyment, and to create opportunities for users to reach new audiences.
• Information used: Information You Provide and Automatically Collected Information.
Suggest your account to other users.
• We may suggest your account to other users, including when a user chooses to sync their
contacts with the Platform.
• Legitimate Interest relied upon: To enable users to quickly and efficiently find and
connect with other users.
• Information used: Information You Provide, Automatically Collected Information, and
Information From Other Sources.
Provide all users with non-personalised advertising.
• We show all users non-personalised advertising, including those who have chosen not to
receive personalised ads.
• Legitimate Interest relied upon: We show non-personalised ads to keep the Platform free
of charge. We process limited categories of your information to make sure our advertising
service is useful to our advertisers (for example, to serve ads to users in a particular country
or to users who speak the same language).
• Information used: Information You Provide and Automatically Collected Information.
Provide measurement and analytics services.
• We help creators and advertisers measure the effectiveness and distribution of ads and other
content viewed on the Platform.
• Legitimate Interest relied upon: To enable creators and advertisers to view and understand
how their ads or content performed and the audience that viewed or interacted with their ads
or content. This is so that they can make informed decisions (such as what kinds of ad
campaigns they may want to run, the type of audience they want to reach and the types of
content that users enjoy the most). This helps keep the advertising and other content we
show users relevant and entertaining, and keeps the Platform free for all users.
• Information used:Information You Provide, Automatically Collected Information, and
Information From Other Sources.
Ensure the safety and well-being of our community.
• We use your information to ensure the safety and well-being of our community, including by
reviewing User Content (and if permitted under applicable law, Direct Messages and
associated metadata) for breaches of our Terms, Guidelines, and other policies. We also infer
your age range, and under certain circumstances, may ask you to provide additional
information to confirm your age.
• Legitimate Interest relied upon: To keep our community safe, review compliance with our
Guidelines, and identify misuse of the Platform.
• Information used: Information You Provide, Automatically Collected Information, and
Information From Other Sources.
Ensure the security and stability of the Platform.
• We use your information to ensure the stability and security of the Platform, including by
identifying and combating technical or security issues (such as technical bugs, spam
accounts, and detecting abuse, fraud, and illegal activity).
• Legitimate Interest relied upon: To ensure the ongoing stability and security of the
Platform and to ensure it is continuously available and functioning.
• Information used: Information You Provide, Automatically Collected Information, and
Information From Other Sources.
Review, improve, promote, and develop the Platform.
• We use the information we have to understand how people are using the Platform and to
develop, test, and make improvements to the Platform, including to develop and improve
our technology, such as our machine learning models and algorithms. We also use this
information to better understand and promote the Platform, popular topics, and emerging
trends.
• Legitimate Interest relied upon: To improve, promote, and develop the Platform in an
informed way.
• Information used: Information You Provide, Automatically Collected Information, and
Information From Other Sources.
Facilitate independent research.
• We share your information with independent researchers to facilitate research that meets
certain criteria, including where such researchers have demonstrable experience and
expertise in their area. Click here to learn more
• Legitimate Interest relied upon: To facilitate independent research that aims to develop
society’s collective knowledge, including in the areas of misinformation and disinformation,
violence, cybercrime, and social trends.
• Information used: Information You Provide, Automatically Collected Information.
Share your information with third parties.
• We share your information with third parties whose platforms or services are integrated with
the Platform.
• Legitimate Interest relied upon: To provide you with a seamless experience, allow your
content to be shared on other platforms, enable third parties to authenticate users., and
optimise user experience.
• Information used: Information You Provide, Automatically Collected Information, and
Information From Other Sources.
Marketing communications.
• We may send you direct marketing messages about features of the Platform and third party
services that we think will interest you. We may also send you promotions, contests, or
marketing campaigns or event information. We will obtain your consent to send you
messages where required by law.
• Legitimate Interest relied upon: To promote the Platform or third party products and
services.
• Information used: Information You Provide, Automatically Collected Information, and
Information From Other Sources.
Your Rights: Whenever we use your information on the basis that it is necessary for legitimate
interests, you can object to, and request restriction of, such usage.

If you are under the age of majority (under 18 in most relevant countries), with a limited
ability to enter into an enforceable contract only, where we may be unable to process your
information on the grounds of contractual necessity, we rely on legitimate interests and use
the information we collect to:
Provide you with the Platform
• We use your information to allow you to access and use the Platform, including allowing
you to create, share, and consume content, interact with others, utilise features, and provide
you with products and services you purchase.
• Legitimate Interests relied upon: To provide, support, and maintain products and features
that enable users who can’t enter into an enforceable contract with us to communicate,
discover, and engage with content and express themselves. We also rely on the legitimate
interest of our users in being able to access the Platform in an easy and intuitive manner.
• Information used: Information You Provide, Automatically Collected Information, and
Information From Other Sources.
Personalise features and content
• We use your information to personalise certain features and content on the Platform, such as
providing your “For You” feed, which shows you videos that we think you would be
interested in (see here for more information) and by suggesting accounts to you.
• Legitimate Interests relied upon: To provide, support, and maintain products and features
that enable users who can’t enter into an enforceable contract with us to communicate,
discover, and engage with content relevant to their interests. We also rely on the legitimate
interest of our users who can’t enter into an enforceable contract with us in being able to
access the Platform and content relevant to their interests.
• Information used: Information You Provide, Automatically Collected Information, and
Information From Other Sources.
Enforce our Terms, Guidelines, or policies.
• We use your information to enforce our Terms, Guidelines, and policies (including through
automated means and human moderation). This may include age restricting mature content,
maintaining our For You feed eligibility standards, removing content, or suspending or
banning your account if we determine that you are violating our Terms or Guidelines.
• Legitimate Interests relied upon: To keep the Platform free of harmful or inappropriate
content, to investigate suspicious activity or breaches of our Terms, Guidelines, or policies
and to protect the safety of users who can’t enter into an enforceable contract with us,
including to prevent exploitation or other harm to which such individuals may be
particularly vulnerable. It is also in the legitimate interests of our users who can’t enter into
an enforceable contract with us, and the public at large, to prevent bad experiences and
promote safety, integrity and security.
• Information used: Information You Provide, Automatically Collected Information, and
Information From Other Sources.
Administer the Platform.
• - We use the information we have to administer the Platform, such as to communicate with
users and respond to and process queries, claims or disputes (including when you tell us
about a problem, or ask for a copy of your information).
• Legitimate Interests relied upon: To share meaningful updates with our users who can’t
enter into an enforceable contract with us about service-related matters, and process their
queries, claims and disputes.
• Information used: Information You Provide, Automatically Collected Information, and
Information From Other Sources.
Your Rights: Whenever we use your information on the basis that it is necessary for legitimate
interests, you can object to, and request restriction of, such usage.

Your Consent
We ask for your consent to access or use your information for specific purposes. If we do, you’ll
always be able to revoke your consent through your device permissions or in-app settings.
Personalised advertising.
• With your consent, we will serve you with personalised ads based on your activity on and
off the Platform.
• Information used: Information You Provide, Automatically Collected Information, and
Information From Other Sources for this purpose.
Your rights: Whenever we use your information based on your consent, you can withdraw your
consent at any time. However, your withdrawal of consent will not affect the lawfulness of
processing your information based on your consent prior to your withdrawal of consent. You can
withdraw your consent for applicable personalised ads related settings by following these
instructions.
You also have the right to port information you have provided to us that we use based on your
consent.

Compliance with a legal obligation


We may use your information including your Profile Information or User Content where it is
necessary to comply with a legal obligation. This includes situations where we have obligations to
take measures to ensure the safety of our users, or comply with a valid legal request such as an
order or disclosure request from regulators, law enforcement agencies or courts. We generally use
Information You Provide and Automatically Collected Information, although it depends on the
specific situation.

To perform a task in the public interest


We may use your information where it is necessary to perform a task in the public interest,
including undertaking research, preventing and detecting crime, safeguarding children and
promoting public safety, security, and integrity as laid down by applicable law. We generally use
Information You Provide and Automatically Collected Information, although it depends on the
specific situation.
Your rights: When we use your information on the basis that it is necessary for a task carried out in
the public interest, you have the right to object to, and seek restriction of, our usage.

To protect someone's vital interests


We may use your information where it is necessary to protect your or someone else's life, physical
integrity, or safety. This could include providing law enforcement agencies or emergency services
with information in urgent situations to protect health or life. We generally provide Information You
Provide and Automatically Collected Information, although it depends on the specific situation.

Your Rights and Choices


You have rights and choices when it comes to your information. Some of these rights apply
generally, while others will only apply in certain circumstances. Depending on the scenario, these
rights may be subject to some limitations. TikTok Ireland will be responsible for responding to your
request within the relevant periods provided by law. If necessary to resolve your request, TikTok
Ireland will liaise with TikTok UK.
Access your information. You can ask us, free of charge, to confirm what information we process
about you, to provide certain information about the processing, and for a copy of your information.
In-app controls enable you to:
• access your information that is available to other users when you navigate to the "me" tab on
your account.
• request a copy of your information by using the “Download your data” tool. Click here for
detailed instructions.
Delete your information. You can delete or ask us to delete some or all of your information. In-app
controls enable you to:
• delete the content posted on your profile, such as your User Content and your Profile
Information.
• delete your full account. Click here for detailed instructions.
• request the deletion of a particular piece of content using the in-app reporting feature (more
information is available here).
Rectify your information. You can change or ask us to change or correct your information where
that information is not accurate. You can change or correct much of your information through the
in-app controls and settings (such as your Profile Information and video content).
Port your information. You have the right to data portability in circumstances where we rely on
contractual necessity or consent as our legal basis. This means that you have the right to receive
your information in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and to share it with
a third party. You can exercise your right of portability by choosing to “Download your data” in
your settings. Click here for detailed instructions.
Object to the processing of your information. You also have the right to object to the processing
of your information in certain circumstances. This right applies when we are performing a task in
the public interest, pursuing our legitimate interests or those of a third party, or when your data is
processed for the purpose of facilitating scientific or historical research in certain circumstances. In
submitting an objection request, please provide all relevant information, including the processing
activity you are objecting to, why you want to object and how the processing activity affects you,
and any additional information that you think will help us review your request. We will stop the
particular processing if we don't have compelling legitimate grounds to continue that processing or
don’t need it for legal claims.
Restrict the processing of your information. You have the right to request the restriction of the
processing of your information where (a) you are challenging the accuracy of the information, (b)
the information has been unlawfully processed, but you are opposing the deletion of that
information, (c) where you need the information to be retained for the pursuit or defence of a legal
claim, or (d) you have objected to processing and you are awaiting the outcome of that objection
request.
To exercise any of the above rights, please contact us through our webform. Before we can respond
to a request to exercise one or more of the rights listed above, you may be required to verify your
identity or your account details or provide additional information so that we can understand your
request.
We encourage you to “Contact us” if you are not satisfied with how we have responded to any of
your rights requests. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Irish Data Protection
Commission (TikTok Ireland’s lead supervisory authority) or with your local supervisory authority.
In addition to these rights, you can control privacy settings for your account. Click here for more
information.

Data Security and Retention


Security of your information is important to us. We maintain appropriate technical, administrative,
and physical security measures that are designed to protect your information from unauthorised
access, theft, disclosure, modification, or loss. We regularly review our security measures to
consider available new technology and methods.
We retain information for as long as necessary to provide the Platform and for the other purposes set
out in this Privacy Policy. We also retain information when necessary to comply with contractual
and legal obligations, when we have a legitimate business interest to do so (such as improving and
developing the Platform, and enhancing its safety, security and stability), and for the exercise or
defence of legal claims.
The retention periods will be different depending on the type of information and the purposes for
which we use the information. For example, when we process your information to provide you with
the Platform, we keep this information for as long as you have an account. This information
includes your Profile Information, User Content, and Direct Messages. If you violate our Guidelines
or Terms, we may remove your Profile Information and/or User Content from public view
immediately but keep your information as is necessary to process the violation.

Our Global Operations and Data Transfers


To support our global operations:
• We store the information described in the “What Information We Collect” section in servers
located in the United States, Malaysia and Singapore.
• Certain entities in our Corporate Group, located outside your country of residence (see here),
are given limited remote access to this information so they can provide certain functions, as
described in the Our Corporate Group section in “How We Share Your Information”. This
access is limited, secure and only granted where necessary under strict security controls and
authorisation approval protocols.
• We share “What Information We Collect” with service providers, partners and other third
party entities, as described in “How We Share Your Information”. These third parties can be
located outside your country of residence.
These entities commit to processing information in compliance with applicable privacy laws and to
implementing appropriate security measures to protect your information.
When we transfer your information outside of the EEA, the UK, or Switzerland, we ensure it
benefits from an adequate level of data protection by relying on:
• Adequacy decisions. These are decisions from the European Commission under Article 45
GDPR (or equivalent decisions under other laws) where they recognise that a country offers
an adequate level of data protection. We transfer your information as described in “What
Information We Collect” to some countries with adequacy decisions, such as the countries
listed here; or
• Standard contractual clauses. The European Commission has approved contractual clauses
under Article 46 of the GDPR that allows companies in the EEA to transfer data outside the
EEA. These (and their approved equivalent for the UK and Switzerland) are called standard
contractual clauses. We rely on standard contractual clauses to transfer information as
described in “What Information We Collect” to certain entities in our Corporate Group (as
described here) and third parties in countries without an adequacy decision.
For a copy of these adequacy decisions or standard contractual clauses, please contact us via the
details provided in the “Contact us” section below.

Younger Users
You must be at least 13 years old to use the Platform. If you believe that there is a user who is
below this minimum age, please contact us using this webform.
To provide users younger than 18 with an age-appropriate experience, certain features are not
available. Further details are available in our Help Centre.
If you are the guardian of a teen, our Guardian's Guide contains information and resources to help
you understand the Platform and the tools and controls you or your teen can use, including “Family
Pairing” features.

Privacy Policy Updates


We may amend or update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any material
changes to this policy by a notice provided through the Platform or by other means. The “Last
Updated” date at the top of this policy reflects the effective date of such policy changes.

Contact Us
You can contact us about this Privacy Policy through our webform. You can reach TikTok's Data
Protection Officer here.
You can also contact us at the following postal address.
• For users in the European Economic Area and Switzerland: TikTok Technology Limited,
10 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin, D02 T380, Ireland.
• For users in the United Kingdom: TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited,
Kaleidoscope, 4 Lindsey Street, London, EC1A 9HP, United Kingdom.
Report trademark infringement

Verify your email


We need to verify your email address before you make a report.

https://www.tiktok.com/legal/report/Trademark
Report copyright infringement
Verify your email
We need to verify your email address before you make a report.

https://www.tiktok.com/legal/report/Copyright
Branded Content Policy

What is Branded Content?


• Rules for posting Branded Content:
• What do you need to do when you post Branded Content?
• Prohibited Industries

Branded Content Policy


Last updated: August 2023

What is Branded Content?


Branded content (“Branded Content”) is content that promotes a third party brand or its products
or services in exchange for payment or any other incentive.
Branded Content includes content which features or references:
• A product or service that has been gifted to you by (or on behalf of) a brand;
• A brand, product or service that you have been paid to post about (whether in the form of
money or a gift);
• A product or service for which you will receive a commission on any sales (for instance, via
an affiliate link or promotional code); or
• A brand that you have or have had a commercial relationship with, such as acting as a brand
ambassador.

Rules for posting Branded Content:


• You are responsible for ensuring that any Branded Content that you post complies with all
applicable laws and regulations. While the rules in this Branded Content Policy are intended
to help you to comply with relevant laws and regulations, they are not exhaustive and you
should be aware of any other applicable legal requirements.
• As well as following these rules when you post Branded Content, you must also comply
with TikTok’s Terms of Service and Community Guidelines.
• To the extent that your Branded Content does not comply with any of these rules, we may
remove the content or impose other restrictions.
• We may update these rules periodically (for instance, if we need to reflect any changes to
applicable laws or regulations) and in some instances we may need to apply them to content
you have already posted (for example, if a new law requires us to no longer display certain
types of content).

What do you need to do when you post Branded Content?


• When posting Branded Content, you must enable the commercial content disclosure toggle.
This is accessible through the content disclosure settings when posting your video. See here
for information on how to enable the toggle. When you enable the toggle, and indicate that
the content is posted on behalf of a third party, your content will be automatically labelled to
indicate that it is Branded Content. In addition, where required by law, your content may be
added to the TikTok Commercial Content Library (please note that, in some circumstances,
TikTok may be required to ensure that Branded Content remains publicly available in the
library even if the original content is deleted or altered).
• You must ensure that the product or service you are promoting is sufficiently clear, without
requiring other users to access your profile page or any links. For instance, you should
explicitly identify the product or service verbally and/or in the text caption.
• You must not make false, deceptive or misleading claims about the products or services.

🚫
• You must not post content promoting illegal products or services.
• You must not promote products or services relating to any of the Prohibited Industries
listed below.
• You should also be aware that, if you promote products or services subject to any of the
Country-Specific Requirements listed here, or which are otherwise subject to additional
legal requirements or restrictions in specific countries or regions, we may prevent the
content from being accessed in the relevant countries, or apply other restrictions (such as
specific age limits).
• In addition, you must not:
• use surreptitious or subliminal techniques;
• prejudice respect for human dignity;
• include or promote any discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin,
nationality, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation;
• encourage behaviour prejudicial to health or safety or which is grossly prejudicial to
the protection of the environment;
• cause physical, mental or moral detriment to minors;
• directly exhort minors to buy or hire a product or service or directly encourage
minors to persuade their parents or others to purchase goods or services being
advertised; or
• exploit the special trust minors place in parents, teachers or other persons, or show
minors in dangerous situations.

Prohibited Industries
You must not post Branded Content which promotes products or services from the following 🚫
Prohibited Industries.
•🚫 Adult and sexual products and services - Including adult entertainment and related products
and services, such as pornography, sex toys, lubricants, and fetish costumes, including underwear
like corsets and micro-thongs.
• 🚫 Age rated films, TV shows and games - Including films, TV shows, and games that are
restricted to certain audiences. Please see the region-specific guidance for exceptions.
• 🚫 Alcohol - Including alcoholic beverages (wine, beer, spirits, etc.), alcohol clubs/subscription
services, alcohol-making kits, and alcohol-sponsored events. This includes alcohol-free or no-
alcohol alternatives and soft drinks presented as mixers for alcohol.
• 🚫Animals - Including buying or selling animals, and animal body parts and products from
protected, endangered or threatened animals, including organs, horns, ivory, bone, skin, fur, wool,
leather, or teeth.
• 🚫Cigarettes and tobacco products - Including cigarettes, cigars, tobacco, e-cigarettes,
cigarette containers, shisha, vaporizers or vape devices, including those without tobacco content,
and other related products and services.
• 🚫Contraceptive products and services - Including any products, services, artificial methods,
or other techniques - medical or non-medical - to prevent or terminate pregnancies, including
abortion-related services.
• 🚫Dating and live video applications or services - Including dating services and live video chat
services that are focused on generating connections between people who are interested in romance,
casual sex, sexual favors, or friendship.
• 🚫 Drug-related products and services - Including illegal drugs, drug paraphernalia,
recreational and prescription drugs, and CBD supplements.
• 🚫 Financial products or services or opportunities - Including foreign exchange, loans, credit
cards, buy now pay later services, debt consolidation or settlement services, investment services,
lending and management of money assets, trading platforms, pyramid schemes, multi-level
marketing opportunities, credit repair, bail bonds, penny auctions, virtual currencies, cash or
paycheck advance, payday loans, and “get rich quick” schemes.
• 🚫 Gambling - Including online gambling, casinos, social casinos, sports betting, fantasy sports,
bingo, lotteries, and other gambling-related content.
• 🚫 Pharmaceuticals, healthcare and medicine products - Including any medical institutions or
treatments, pharmacological products claiming health benefits, over-the-counter medicines,
prescription drugs, vitamins, and powders, shakes or gummies claiming to have vitamin or health
benefits. Teeth whitening products and hair growth products are also not allowed.
• 🚫 Political content - All political or issue-based advertising is prohibited:
• Candidates or nominees for public office, political parties, elected or appointed
government officials are prohibited from advertising.
• The spouses of candidates, elected, or appointed government officials with official
duties or offices are prohibited from advertising.
• Royal Family members with official government capacities are also prohibited from
advertising.
• Political and issue-based advertising includes:
• ads that reference, promote, or oppose candidates or nominees for public
office, political parties, or elected or appointed government officials;
• ads that reference an election, including voter registration, voter turnout, and
appeals for votes;
• ads that include advocacy for or against past, current, or proposed referenda,
ballot measures, and legislative, judicial or regulatory outcomes or processes,
including ads that promote or attack government policies or track records; and
• ads that reference, promote, sell, merchandise that feature prohibited
individuals, entities or content, including campaign slogans, symbols, or
logos.
•🚫 Products and services that enable dishonest behavior - Including products or services that
may infringe upon individual privacy, steal other people's personal information, infringe upon a
third party's intellectual and other property rights, steal other people's property, or assist with
dishonest behavior, such as fraud or falsification.
🚫
🚫
• Professional services - Including accounting services, legal services, and immigration
services. • Weapons, ammunition, or explosives - Including weapons and related parts, such as
firearms, firearm parts, firearm silencers, firearm suppressors, paintball guns, bb guns, non-culinary
knives/blades/spears, tasers, nunchucks, batons, swords, pepper-spray, fireworks or other
explosives, and other objects that are designed to cause harm to individuals or for self-defense.
•🚫 Weight loss products or services - Including weight loss clinics, weight loss/management
supplements (including fat burning pills, appetite suppressants, weight loss/detox teas, or lollipops),
and fasting services and products. Please see the region-specific guidance for exceptions.
•🚫 Counterfeit Products - content must not display or promote counterfeit documents, such as
counterfeit degrees, passports, or immigration papers, counterfeit or unauthorized replicas of a real
product.
•🚫 Other prohibited products or services - Any other businesses, products, or services that are
highly controversial, distasteful, violent, or dangerous would be deemed incompatible with the
TikTok platform. Examples include international brides, hazardous chemical products, trading of
human organs and transplants, prenatal sex determination services, and protected wild flora. This
also includes Branded Content that refers to a sensitive event or topic (e.g. deaths, natural/industrial
disasters, violent attacks, civil disorder, etc.) and contain any of the following: personal attacks,
hashtag appropriation, the selling of goods/services, political campaigning, solicitation of followers,
or other inappropriate content.
Appeals and other redress possibilities

Appeals
• Other legal rights

Appeals and other redress possibilities


For those in the European Union ("EU") and European Economic Area ("EEA"), below are some of
the options that may be available if you are not satisfied with any decision TikTok has taken as to
whether content is illegal or incompatible with our terms and conditions, including any reports you
have made.

Appeals
The EU Digital Services Act refers to internal complaint handling systems – we call these
“appeals”. You can appeal decisions where TikTok has:
• removed or otherwise restricted access to your content
• banned your account
• restricted access to a feature (such as LIVE); or
• restricted your ability to monetise.
Appeals are also available to those who report content to TikTok where they are not satisfied with
TikTok’s decision (for example, if TikTok decides not to take any action in response to your
report).

Appeal rules:
Below are the rules on how TikTok handles appeals:
• Timing: You can lodge an appeal up to 180 days after the date we notified you of the
decision that you want to appeal. Appeals are not available after this time. To help handle
your appeal as swiftly as possible, we ask that you submit your appeal as soon as possible
after we notify you of the decision. While appeals are generally available for 180 days, we
explain in the section below the scenarios where appeals are not available for this period and
the reasons why.
• One appeal: You have the right to appeal each decision to TikTok only once (though you
may have other rights outside TikTok, as explained in the sections further below).
• Relevant information: If you disagree with our decision and want to make an appeal, we
ask that you include all relevant information to help us understand the reasons and to
properly assess your appeal. Please do not include information that is not directly relevant to
your appeal.
• Abusive or inappropriate language: Please be respectful when submitting your appeal. If
an appeal contains abusive or inappropriate language, we may reject it.
• Change of reasons: If you report content for one reason, and then you later want to change
the reason for your report, we may not consider that as an appeal. Instead of making an
appeal, you will have an opportunity to submit a new report (specifying the correct reason
for your report).
• Notices: Given the potential consequences of an allegation of illegality, it is a requirement
that any such reports are sufficiently precise and supported by sufficient evidence to
demonstrate the alleged illegality without TikTok having to undertake a detailed legal
examination. This requirement is intended to ensure that TikTok can appropriately assess the
report and come to an informed and diligent decision, one which is compatible with rights
such as freedom of expression and of information. If a report does not contain sufficient
information to enable TikTok to identify clearly that the content complained of is illegal, the
report will have to be rejected.
• Illegal content reports: Where you report suspected illegal content, we will tell you if we
cannot assess the illegality of the reported content either because:the report did not contain
sufficiently clear and specific reasons; or the report did not contain a sufficiently clear
reference to a relevant law or an explanation as to why the reported content is illegal.
• Limit scenarios where appeals are not available: Appeals will not be available in limited
scenarios where the relevant decision can no longer be reversed. This includes where:the
relevant decision has already expired. For example, in the case of a temporary ban, an
appeal will no longer be available after the temporary ban has already expired; or where the
relevant decision can no longer be reversed because the content in question is temporary and
has already expired. For example, in relation to a Story that has disappeared after 24 hours
or LIVE that has already ended, an appeal will no longer be available because the content
has expired and can no longer be reinstated.
• Intellectual property: The specific rules for reports and appeals relating to intellectual
property violations are covered in our Intellectual Property Policy. If you wish to make an
appeal in relation to an Intellectual Property violation, please refer to the Intellectual
Property Policy.
• Suspension of right to lodge appeals: In line with the DSA, for individuals that abuse the
appeals process by submitting more than one appeal that is clearly unfounded, TikTok may
suspend the ability of such individuals to submit further appeals for a reasonable period of
time.

How to appeal a decision?


If you disagree with our decision, you can appeal as follows:
• 1. To appeal a decision affecting your content or account:
• i. Notification: We will send a notification with details of the decision to your
TikTok inbox (or by email). Here is an example of the in-app notification for when a
video has been removed for violating the Community Guidelines.
• ii. Appeal options: The form of notification will also include the appeal options. We
will ask you to provide an explanation for your appeal in a free text box.
• 2. To appeal a decision in relation to a report you've made:
• i. Notification: Following a report, we will send a notification with details of the
decision to your TikTok inbox (or by email). Here is an example of the in-app
notification sent to a reporter where TikTok has not found any violations in relation
to the reported content.
• ii. Appeal options: This notification will also include the appeal options. We will ask
you to provide an explanation for your appeal in a free text box.

What happens after an appeal is submitted?


• After you submit an appeal, we will review the appeal and assess whether the original
decision should be reversed or remain in place. We will notify you of the outcome of the
appeal (and we note that you only appeal the decision to TikTok once).
• For creators, if your appeal is successful, we will reverse the action taken against your
content or account (for example, we will reinstate the removed or restricted content, or lift
the account or feature ban).
• For reporters, if your appeal is successful, we will take action to remove or restrict the
reported content.
Other legal rights
• Out-of-court dispute settlement: You also have the possibility of accessing a third party
out-of-court dispute settlement process to resolve any disputes that you may have with
TikTok (including in relation to any appeals). Once the relevant regulatory authorities have
put such processes in place, further details will be made available on the European
Commission's webpage and this article will be updated to reflect this.
• Courts: You may also have the possibility of seeking a remedy from the courts, either in
Ireland (where TikTok has its main establishment in the EU), or if applicable, in the EU
member state where you live (or are established in the case of corporate entities). Lodging
an appeal with TikTok or using the out-of-court dispute settlement process does not prevent
you from doing this.
• Regulators: Users of the TikTok platform may also have the right to lodge a complaint with
the regulatory authority in the EU country in which you are located (or established in the
case of corporate entities).

Report a problem

Tell us about a problem you’d like to report or feedback that you have about your experience with
TikTok. Information shared will only be used to respond to your report.

Contact information

Topic
<option selected="" value="" disabled="">Select an option</option><option value="General
account inquiry" label="General account inquiry">General account inquiry</option><option
value="Account ban/suspension" label="Account ban/suspension">Account
ban/suspension</option><option value="Report a bug/Feature request" label="Report a
bug/Feature request">Report a bug/Feature request</option><option value="TikTok Creator Fund"
label="TikTok Creator Fund">TikTok Creator Fund</option><option value="Change account
information" label="Change account information">Change account information</option><option
value="TikTok on TV" label="TikTok on TV">TikTok on TV</option><option value="TikTok For
Business / TikTok Shopping" label="TikTok For Business / TikTok Shopping">TikTok For
Business / TikTok Shopping</option><option value="Effect House" label="Effect House">Effect
House</option><option value="Report a potential violation" label="Report a potential
violation">Report a potential violation</option><option value="Report an underage user"
label="Report an underage user">Report an underage user</option>

Select an option

Email

Username (Optional)

The username can be found on an account’s TikTok profile.

Additional details

Attachments (Optional)

You can upload up to 10 screenshots to share details related to your feedback.


Supported file types include: 7Z, BMP, GIF, GZ, JPEG, JPG, PNG, TIF, TIFF, RAR, TAR, ZIP

Attachments (Optional)

You can upload up to 10 screenshots to share details related to your feedback.

Supported file types include: 7Z, BMP, GIF, GZ, JPEG, JPG, PNG, TIF, TIFF, RAR, TAR, ZIP
Upload

Declaration

Confirm that these statements are true before submitting


I ensure, to the best of my ability and knowledge, that all the information disclosed above is
accurate and true.
By submitting, I acknowledge that TikTok will process my data in accordance with TikTok’s
Privacy Policy.
TikTok Platform Cookies Policy

Terms of Service
• Privacy Policy
• Children's Privacy Policy
• TikTok Web Cookies Policy
• Intellectual Property Policy
• TikTok Law Enforcement Guidelines
• Open Source Software Notices
• Virtual Items

TikTok Platform Cookies Policy


Last Updated: 5 November 2020

This Cookies Policy applies whenever you see our Platform. “Platform” includes any services
provided by TikTok, including the advertiser and developer products available via TikTok For
Business and TikTok for Developers, with the exception of those described in our separate Website
Cookies Policy. Where we refer to “TikTok”, “we” or “us” in this Cookies Policy, we mean TikTok
Technology Limited, an Irish company, and TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited, a UK
company.
Like many websites and apps, our Platform uses cookies and other tracking technologies such as
software development kits (SDKs), pixels and local storage. These technologies allow us to store
information or gain access to information stored on your device to enable certain features and
distinguish your device from others. Tracking technologies are used by most apps to recognise that
a device is the same as one used previously and to understand some of its characteristics so that we
can serve you advertising, measure the performance of those ads, and to improve your experience.
This policy explains how we use these technologies, and the choices you have to control them.
Unless otherwise stated in this policy, our Privacy Policy applies to the data we collect.

1. What technologies are used?


Our Platform uses the following kinds of technologies:
Cookies: Cookies are small text files that enable us and our service providers and partners to
uniquely identify your browser or device for various purposes, including those described above.
Cookies normally work by assigning a unique number to your device and are stored on your
browser by the websites that you visit as well as third party service providers and partners to those
websites.
Cookies can remain on your computer or mobile device for different periods of time. Some cookies
are "session cookies", meaning that they exist only while your browser is open and are deleted
automatically once you close your browser. Session cookies cannot be used to track your browser or
device from website to website.
Other cookies are "persistent cookies", meaning that they survive after your browser is closed. Most
persistent cookies are set to automatically expire after a defined duration (for example, a few days,
weeks or months). When you return to that website (or visit other websites that use the same
cookies) the website provider or its service providers can recognise the persistent cookies they have
set and recognise your browsing device.
Local storage: Local storage files are created by apps and websites to store information locally on
your device. They are very similar to cookies, but can have slightly different properties (for
example, local storage can be used to store more information and can be stored in a different
location on your device to cookies). Local storage is normally used to speed up app and site
functionality and remember your preferences.
Application Programmable Interface (API): An API is a piece of software which helps two or more
applications to talk to one another. We use them to communicate between TikTok and our service
providers.
Software Development Kits (SDKs): SDKs are pieces of code that enable data to be collected about
your device, network and interaction with a website. Like cookies, they generally operate by
assigning your device a unique number.
Pixels: Pixels are small 1 pixel x 1 pixel invisible image files that are embedded in certain website
pages. They can be used to collect information about your visit to that website page.
When you open a website page with an embedded pixel, the page will automatically run simple
code that downloads the 1x1 image file to your device. At the same time, the code also passes
certain information about your device and your actions on the website. Your interest in the website
can then be logged and used for analytics or advertising purposes.
Mobile advertising IDs: Your device has a unique number used by TikTok and our service providers
to recognise your device. Where you have provided your consent, this allows personalised ads to be
delivered to your device and to measure the effectiveness of those ads. Learn more about how to
control your advertising ID.

2. Categories of tracking technologies


The types of tracking technologies used by us and our partners in connection with the provision of
the Platform can be classified into the following categories. Some of these categories are “essential”
to provide you with the services you have requested, such as to allow you to log into secure areas of
the Platform. The following is a list of of the categories of tracking technologies we use:
Identification and security: We recognise you when you return to our Platform to make sure that
you are the right user and to prevent activity that violates our policies.
For example, we check what country you are using the TikTok app from to detect if someone may
be trying to fraudulently access your account.
Content personalisation: We use these technologies to ensure that we can serve you with
personalised content.
For example, each User is given a unique TikTok ID number. We use this to provide you with
tailored content that will be of interest to you.
Remembering your preferences: We need to remember the settings you have chosen on the Platform
so that they work how you want them to.
For example, we use these technologies in order to remember what languages you want to see
content in, the privacy settings you apply to your account and/or videos and your Digital Wellbeing
choices.
Functionality: Functionality tracking technologies help to make the Platform work more efficiently
and to improve and optimize your experience.
For example, we determine which device you use, the software version and the screen dimensions
so that we can ensure the TikTok app functions correctly. We also determine whether your battery is
running low so that we can optimise the TikTok app and we make sure that content loads and plays
correctly.
Analytics: We use analytics tracking technologies to analyse how you use the Platform, including
which pages you view most often, how you interact with the content, measure any errors that occur
and test different design ideas. The information is used to report and evaluate your activities and
patterns as a user of the Platform.
For example, we may test new video creation features to help us decide which features users prefer.
Advertising and measurement: Our Platform uses advertising and measurement tracking
technologies. These tracking technologies help us and our advertisers show you relevant advertising
and measure the performance of ad campaigns. We also use these technologies to promote TikTok
on the other platforms and websites and measure their effectiveness.
For example, we will learn from our advertiser about whether you viewed their products or bought
something so we can learn how effective the ad was. If you’ve already shown interest in an ad, we
might show you it again, or we might limit the number of times we show it to you.

3. Do other parties use these technologies on our Platform?


Tracking technologies can either be “first-party” or “third-party”. First-party tracking technologies
refers to tracking technologies that we set and use directly. Third-party tracking technologies refer
to tracking technologies set by third parties (such as our analytics or advertising service providers).
Our partners may use these technologies on our Platform to help us and our advertisers understand
how effective their ads are and to compare this to their campaigns on other websites and apps. You
can find a list of these partners in the Cookies Partner List.

4. How can I control these technologies?


You can control how these technologies are used:
• Personalised Ads in the TikTok app. You are in full control of whether TikTok serves you
with personalised ads in the TikTok app. We do not serve personalised ads without your
consent. You can switch on personalised ads by clicking on “Me” in the TikTok app, visiting
the settings page by pressing on the three dots in the top right corner, then clicking on
“Personalization and data” then using the toggle. You can change this setting at any time.
• Advertising ID. You can tailor your device settings to control your advertising ID:
• On Apple devices, you can enable the “Limit Ad Tracking” setting in your device
settings.
• On Android devices, you can enable the “Opt out of Ads Personalization” in your
device settings.
• Partner opt-outs. Many of the partners we work with also provide opt-outs on their own
websites. You can find details of this in their own policies, which are linked to from our
Cookies Partner List.
As mentioned above, some uses of these technologies are essential for the functioning of the
Platform and so you cannot deactivate them.

5. Where can I find more information about these


technologies?
If you would like to find out more about these technologies, you may find the following links
useful:
• All about cookies
• EU Guide to Cookies
• Your Online Choices

6. Changes to this policy


We will occasionally update this policy to reflect changes in our practices. When we post changes to
this policy, we will revise the "Last Updated" date at the top of this policy. If we make any material
changes in the way we collect, use, and/or share information using these technologies, we will
notify you by prominently posting notice of the changes in places where you use the Platform. We
recommend that you check this page from time to time to inform yourself of any changes in this
policy.

7. Contact us
If you have any questions or comments about this policy, or privacy matters generally, contact us at:
https://www.tiktok.com/legal/report/privacy.

Cookie Partner List


This page lists the companies that use cookies and other technologies on our Platform. From time to
time, we may change the companies we work with to provide our Platform.
Last Updated: 5 November 2020
Analytics
Google Analytics for Firebase
Categories of Data: Device identifiers to collect and store information such as number of sessions
per user, session duration, operating system, device models, geography, first launches, and app
updates.
Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites

Advertising measurement
Adbrix Original
Categories of Data: IDFA / GAID, IP address, User Agent
Privacy Policy: http://www.igaworks.com/privacy?tf_lang=en
Adform
Categories of Data: IP address, User Agent, Cookie
Privacy Policy: https://site.adform.com/privacy-center/platform-privacy/product-and-services-
privacy-policy/
Adjust
Categories of Data: IDFA / GAID, IP address, User Agent
Privacy Policy: https://www.adjust.com/terms/privacy-policy/
AppMetrica
Categories of Data: IDFA / GAID, IP address, User Agent
Privacy Policy: https://appmetrica.yandex.com/about/privacy-policy
AppsFlyer
Categories of Data: IDFA / GAID, IP address, User Agent
Privacy Policy: https://www.appsflyer.com/services-privacy-policy/?utm_source=google
Branch
Categories of Data: IDFA / GAID, IP address, User Agent
Privacy Policy: https://branch.io/policies/#privacy
DoubleClick
Categories of Data: IP address, User Agent, Cookie
Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-US
FlashTalking
Categories of Data: IP address, User Agent, Cookie
Privacy Policy: https://www.flashtalking.com/privacypolicy
Kantar
Categories of Data: IP address, User Agent, Cookie
Privacy Policy: https://www.kantarmedia.com/uk/privacy-statement
Kochava
Categories of Data: IDFA / GAID, IP address, User Agent
Privacy Policy: https://www.kochava.com/support-privacy/
Moat by Oracle
Categories of Data: IP address, User Agent,
Privacy Policy: https://www.oracle.com/legal/privacy/
myTracker
Categories of Data: IDFA / GAID, IP address, User Agent
Privacy Policy: https://tracker.my.com/legal/privacy-policy
Nielsen
Categories of Data: IP address, User Agent,
Privacy Policy: https://www.nielsen.com/uk/en/legal/privacy-statement/digital-measurement/
Singular
Categories of Data: IDFA / GAID, IP address, User Agent
Privacy Policy: https://www.singular.net/privacy-policy/
Sizmek
Categories of Data: IP address, User Agent, Cookie
Privacy Policy: https://www.sizmek.com/privacy-policy/
Tenjin
Categories of Data: IDFA / GAID, IP address, User Agent
Privacy Policy: https://www.tenjin.io/privacy/

Login/Share
Apple
Categories of Data: Login event
Privacy Policy: https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/en-ww/
Facebook
Categories of Data: Login/share event
Privacy Policy: https://en-gb.facebook.com/policy.php
Twitter
Categories of Data: Login/share event
Privacy Policy: https://twitter.com/en/privacy

Others
Google Firebase Cloud Messaging
Categories of Data/Purpose: Collects Instance IDs to determine which device to send a message to
Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites
Google Pay
Categories of Data/Purpose: We use third-party services for payment processing.
We will not store or collect your card details. Information is provided directly to our third-party
payment processors who use your information in accordance with their Privacy Policy.
Privacy Policy: https://payments.google.com/payments/apis-secure/get_legal_document?
ldo=0&ldt=privacynotice&ldl=en-GB
Apple Pay
Categories of Data/Purpose: We will not store or collect your card details. Information is provided
directly to our third-party payment processors who use your information in accordance with their
Privacy Policy.
Privacy Policy: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210665
Business Terms of Service

1. What services are covered by these Business Terms


• 2. What business products, services and activities are excluded from these Business Terms?
• 3. Interaction with other TikTok terms
• 4. Sales and advertising features
• 5. Business Content, promotion and disclosure requirements
• 6. Account selection
• 7. Business Account additional terms
• 8. Limits on liability
• 9. Indemnity
• 10. Sanctions
• 11. Termination
• 12. Governing law and disputes
• 13. General

Business Terms of Service


(If you are a user having your residence or principal place of business in the European
Economic Area, Switzerland or the United Kingdom using the Platform for Business
Purposes)

Last updated: August 2023

All capitalised terms used but not defined in these Business Terms shall have the meaning set out in
TikTok’s Terms of Service applicable to users in the European Economic Area, Switzerland and the
United Kingdom (the “Terms of Service”).

1. What services are covered by these Business Terms


These "Business Terms" (the “Business Terms”) apply if you use the Platform for purposes within
your trade, business, craft or profession (“Business Purposes”), unless an exemption in section 2
below applies. Business Purposes include:
• managing your own business through your account on the Platform; and/or
• administering or helping to administer an account on the Platform on behalf of a business.

2. What business products, services and activities are excluded


from these Business Terms?
The products and services you access through your:
• TikTok For Business, TikTok Ads Manager and TikTok Business Center accounts are
governed by the Commercial Terms of Service and not by these Business Terms; and
• TikTok Shop Seller accounts are governed by the Seller Terms of Service for TikTok Shop
and not by these Business Terms.
If you are a consumer who posts content on the Platform that promotes a third party brand or its
products or services in exchange for payment or any other incentive, this is governed by the
relevant provisions of the Terms of Service (as defined below) and the Branded Content Policy not
by these Terms.

3. Interaction with other TikTok terms


These Business Terms form part of the Terms of Service. They apply in addition to the Terms of
Service and any other applicable supplemental terms (including those additional terms and policies
listed in the Terms of Service).
To the extent any specific provision of these Business Terms conflicts or is inconsistent with any
term of the Terms of Service, the specific provision of these Business Terms will prevail.
In the event of conflict between these Business Terms and specific terms related to your business
use of a product or feature accessible via the Platform e.g. Promote or the TikTok Creator
Marketplace, those specific terms will take priority over these Business Terms solely to the extent
of the conflict.
In the event of conflict between these Business Terms and the Zusätzliche Bestimmungen für
Nutzer mit Wohnsitz in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, those country specific terms will take
priority over these Business Terms solely to the extent of the conflict.

4. Sales and advertising features


You agree that, when you use the Platform to post content containing sales features (such as
discount codes or product listings) or advertising features (such as third party links or calls to
action) you will use the tools that TikTok has made available for these purposes unless we otherwise
agree. Current tools include the TikTok Merchant Platform and the TikTok for Business Platform.

5. Business Content, promotion and disclosure requirements


If you upload content to your account on the Platform which is designed to promote products or
services (“Business Content”), it is subject to the Terms of Service in the same way as any other
content that users create, post or share on the Platform and, in addition to the restrictions set out in
“What you can’t do on the Platform” in the Terms of Service, you are under a positive obligation to
ensure the following:
• a. You must ensure that your Business Content:
• i. is instantly recognisable as having a commercial purpose and use any functionality
TikTok makes available to facilitate this;
• ii. does not promote or sell:
• 1. cigarettes or other tobacco products;
• 2. electronic cigarettes or electronic cigarette refill containers;
• 3. any prescription-only medicine;
• 4. alcoholic drinks where your Business Content is aimed at persons under
the age of 18 (“Minors”) and encourages the immoderate consumption of
alcohol; or
• 5. anything that may be prohibited or restricted by any policies which may
apply to Business Content;
• iii. does not:
• 1. use techniques which exploit the possibility of conveying a message
subliminally or surreptitiously;
• 2. prejudice respect for human dignity;
• 3. include or promote discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin,
nationality, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation;
• 4. encourage behaviour prejudicial to health or safety;
• 5. encourage behaviour grossly prejudicial to the protection of the
environment;
• 6. cause physical, mental or moral detriment to Minors;
• 7. directly exhort Minors to purchase or rent goods or services in a manner
which exploits their inexperience or credulity;
• 8. directly encourage Minors to persuade their parents or others to purchase or
rent goods or services;
• 9. exploit the trust of Minors in parents, teachers or others; or
• 10. unreasonably show Minors in dangerous situations;
• iv. does not include misrepresentations about us or our products or services; and
• v. does not give the impression that TikTok is a promoter or otherwise involved
where your Business Content includes promotions or other commercial activity.
• b. If you include in your Business Content a link to any third party site, app or platform
(“Third Party Site”), it is your responsibility to understand and abide by any rules or
requirements imposed by such Third Party Site. TikTok shall have no responsibility for any
content, services or merchandise or activities on any such Third Party Site and expressly
disclaims all liability with respect thereto.
• c. Where you are using your TikTok account for a Business Purpose, you must either use the
in-app Commercial Sounds Page, the web-based TikTok Commercial Music Library, or pre-
clear all music rights to the Business Content, and if you choose to use the in-app
Commercial Sounds Page or the web-based TikTok Commercial Music Library, you must
comply with the you must comply with the TikTok Commercial Music Library – User Terms
in each instance.

6. Account selection
Where you use your account primarily for Business Purposes, you agree that you will at all times
use a TikTok account type designated for commercial or business use (a “Business Account”), and
comply additionally with the terms set out in the “Business Account Additional Terms” set out in
clause 7 below.

7. Business Account additional terms


The following terms apply where you have opened a Business Account:
• a. You agree to not convert your account back to a personal account or other account used
for non-Business Purposes, unless authorised by us.
• b. You will not send unsolicited communications to any other users of the Platform.
• c. If you apply for your Business Account to be verified or obtain an equivalent accreditation
offered by us, you agree that all supporting information you provide will be genuine and
correct.
• d. As part of your use of the Platform, where you receive data, analytics, or reports in
relation to the effectiveness and/or performance of the Platform (“TikTok Data”):
• i. You may use TikTok Data solely:
• 1. to plan and manage how you use the Platform; and
• 2. to assess the effectiveness and performance of the Platform.
• ii. You agree not to:
• 1. share TikTok Data with any third party, except for persons acting on your
behalf and in compliance with the Terms of Service;
• 2. de-aggregate or de-anonymise TikTok Data; or
• 3. use TikTok Data to create or improve profiles or segments relating to any
user, device, household, or browser.
• e. Nothing in this clause 7(d) is intended to prevent or restrict you from using the Platform
tools that use TikTok Data for their intended function and purpose, as specified in writing by
TikTok (for example, in the user interface or Help Center for the relevant product).
• f. The TikTok Analytics Joint Controller Addendum applies when TikTok collects personal
data about user interactions with your Business Account (e.g. views, likes, comments and
shares) to provide you with aggregated anonymous reporting about the performance of your
content on the Platform, that personal data is subject to the European General Data
Protection Regulation or its UK equivalent, and you jointly determine with TikTok the
means and purposes of the processing.
• g. If you send us, or enable us to collect, Business Products Data (as defined in the Business
Products (Data) Terms), you agree to the Business Products (Data) Terms.
• h. When you post Business Content to the Platform, in addition to the licence granted to
TikTok under the Terms of Service, you give TikTok a non-exclusive, royalty-free,
transferable, sublicensable, worldwide licence to use, store, display, reproduce, save, modify,
perform and distribute your Business Content on the Platform for the purposes of marketing
and promoting that Business Content on the Platform. This licence extends to other
companies who are affiliated or are providing services to TikTok as part of making the
Platform available to you and other users.

8. Limits on liability
• a. Except as expressly set out herein, the Platform is provided “as available” and “as is” and
we make no warranties or representations of any kind to you with respect to them. Except as
expressly set out herein, we disclaim all warranties, express, implied, or statutory, including
any terms relating to merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title and non-
infringement.
• b. Nothing in these Business Terms excludes or limits liability for:
• i. death or personal injury caused by a party’s negligence;
• ii. fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or
• iii. any other type of liability which cannot by law be excluded or limited.
• c. We limit our liability to you arising from your use of the Platform and/or under these
Business Terms, whether such liability arises in contract, tort (including, without limitation,
negligence) or otherwise, as follows:
• i. our maximum liability to you shall be limited to five hundred pounds sterling
(£500); and
• ii. we shall not be liable to you for:
• 1. loss of business, use, profit, anticipated profit, contracts, revenues,
goodwill or anticipated savings; or
• 2. consequential, special or indirect loss or damage, including where such loss
or damage is of the type specified at clause 8(c)(ii)(1) above,
even if advised of the possibility of such loss or damage.

9. Indemnity
You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless TikTok, its group companies and each of their
respective officers, directors, employees, and agents (“TikTok Parties”) from any and all claims,
allegations, liabilities, costs, and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses,
brought or asserted against any of the TikTok Parties arising out of, or relating in any way to, your
breach of these Business Terms or the Terms of Service.

10. Sanctions
You represent and warrant that you, and any entity that owns, controls, or is otherwise affiliated
with you:
• a. will comply with all applicable economic or financial sanctions or trade embargoes
imposed, administered, or enforced by the United States, European Union and relevant
Member States, the United Kingdom, and the United Nations Security Council (collectively
“Sanctions”);
• b. are not operating, organised, or resident in a country or territory that is the target of
comprehensive Sanctions;
• c. are not identified on a Sanctions-related list of designated persons maintained by the
United States, European Union or United Kingdom, including the Specially Designated
Nationals and Blocked Persons List and Her Majesty’s Treasury’s Consolidated List of
Financial Sanctions Targets (“Restricted Party Lists”);
• d. will not do business with or provide goods or services, using the Platform, directly or
indirectly, to anyone on the Restricted Party Lists; and
• e. are not subject to end destination export control regulations, including the United States
Export Administration Regulations.
11. Termination
• a. In addition to your rights and TikTok’s rights to suspend or end our relationship under
clause 6 of the Terms of Service, TikTok may terminate your Business Account at any time
on not less than 30 days' written notice to you.
• b. In the event of termination of your account under clause 6 of the Terms of Service or this
clause 11, these Business Terms shall automatically terminate. The provisions of clause 8
(Limits on liability), clause 9 (Indemnity), clause 12 (Governing Law and disputes), clause
13 (General) (a) and any other clause impliedly intended to survive termination will survive
such termination.

12. Governing law and disputes


These provisions shall replace the "Resolving disputes" provisions of the Terms of Service.
• a. If you use the Platform for Business Purposes, the laws of England and Wales will govern
these Business Terms, the Terms of Service and any claims and disputes (whether
contractual or otherwise) arising out of or relating to the relationship between you and
TikTok, except as otherwise provided in clause 12(c).
• b. Except where clause 12(c) applies, if you have any claim or dispute against TikTok
arising out of or in connection with these Business Terms or the Terms of Service, including
any question regarding their existence, breach, termination, enforcement, interpretation or
validity (“Dispute”), the parties shall follow the procedure set out in this clause 12(b):
• i. either party shall give to the other written notice of the Dispute, setting out its
nature and full particulars, together with relevant supporting documents, and the
parties shall agree to attempt, promptly and in good faith, to resolve such Dispute by
way of confidential discussions between the parties. The notice of Dispute to TikTok
must be sent to Kaleidoscope, 4 Lindsey Street, London, United Kingdom, EC1A
9HP, Attn: Legal Department and will be deemed to have been received three United
Kingdom business days after posting.
• ii. If the Dispute has not been settled pursuant to clause 12(b)(i) within 30 days of the
date the written notice under clause 12(b)(i) was deemed received, or within such
other period as the parties may agree in writing, then the parties will refer the dispute
to mediation under the International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”) Mediation
Rules or the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (“CEDR”) Model Mediation
Procedure. Unless otherwise agreed between the parties within 14 days of referral of
the Dispute, the mediator will be nominated by the ICC or CEDR (as applicable).
• iii. If the Dispute has not been settled pursuant to clause 12(b)(ii) within 60 days
following the referral of the Dispute to mediation, or within such other period as the
parties may agree in writing, such Dispute will thereafter be finally settled under the
Rules of Arbitration of the ICC, which are incorporated by reference into this clause.
Unless the parties stipulate otherwise, there will be one arbitrator (to be appointed by
the ICC), the arbitration will take place in London, England, and the arbitration will
be conducted in English.
• c. Nothing in this clause 12 shall:
• i. prevent TikTok from applying to any court or other judicial authority of competent
jurisdiction for interim relief of any kind including, without limitation, injunctive or
other equitable relief to prevent the actual or threatened infringement,
misappropriation or violation of a party's confidentiality rights or copyrights,
trademarks, trade secrets, patents or other intellectual property rights;
• ii. require either party to arbitrate Disputes that may not be subject to arbitration as a
matter of generally applicable law (and the courts of England and Wales shall have
exclusive jurisdiction over such Disputes); or
• iii. prevent either party from bringing a claim in a court of law where it has a legal
right to do so, which cannot be given up or changed by contractual agreement.

13. General
• a. If any portion of these Business Terms are found to be unenforceable, then that portion
will be severed and the remaining portion will remain in full force and effect.
• b. If we fail to enforce any of these Business Terms, it will not be considered a waiver.
• c. Except as permitted in clause 7 of the Terms of Service, any amendment to or waiver of
these Business Terms must be made in writing and signed by us.
• d. Any words following the terms including, include, in particular, for example, or any
similar expression shall be interpreted as illustrative and shall not limit the sense of the
words preceding those terms.
• e. You will not transfer any of your rights or obligations under these Business Terms to
anyone else without our consent.
• f. Except as set out in clause 7(g) (Business Account additional terms) and clause 9
(Indemnity), these Business Terms do not confer any third-party beneficiary rights,Please
note that our retention policies for Business Content may differ from those set forth in the
Terms of Service.
• g. We retain Business Content as necessary to provide our services to users, for internal
record keeping, and for product improvement and safety purposes.
• h. All of our rights and obligations under these Business Terms are freely assignable by us in
connection with a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, or by operation of law or otherwise.
• i. Nothing in these Business Terms or any applicable supplemental terms will prevent us
from complying with the law.
• j. We reserve all rights not expressly granted to you.
Branded Content Policy

What is Branded Content?


• Rules for posting Branded Content:
• What do you need to do when you post Branded Content?
• Prohibited Industries

Branded Content Policy


Last updated: August 2023

What is Branded Content?


Branded content (“Branded Content”) is content that promotes a third party brand or its products
or services in exchange for payment or any other incentive.
Branded Content includes content which features or references:
• A product or service that has been gifted to you by (or on behalf of) a brand;
• A brand, product or service that you have been paid to post about (whether in the form of
money or a gift);
• A product or service for which you will receive a commission on any sales (for instance, via
an affiliate link or promotional code); or
• A brand that you have or have had a commercial relationship with, such as acting as a brand
ambassador.

Rules for posting Branded Content:


• You are responsible for ensuring that any Branded Content that you post complies with all
applicable laws and regulations. While the rules in this Branded Content Policy are intended
to help you to comply with relevant laws and regulations, they are not exhaustive and you
should be aware of any other applicable legal requirements.
• As well as following these rules when you post Branded Content, you must also comply
with TikTok’s Terms of Service and Community Guidelines.
• To the extent that your Branded Content does not comply with any of these rules, we may
remove the content or impose other restrictions.
• We may update these rules periodically (for instance, if we need to reflect any changes to
applicable laws or regulations) and in some instances we may need to apply them to content
you have already posted (for example, if a new law requires us to no longer display certain
types of content).

What do you need to do when you post Branded Content?


• When posting Branded Content, you must enable the commercial content disclosure toggle.
This is accessible through the content disclosure settings when posting your video. See here
for information on how to enable the toggle. When you enable the toggle, and indicate that
the content is posted on behalf of a third party, your content will be automatically labelled to
indicate that it is Branded Content. In addition, where required by law, your content may be
added to the TikTok Commercial Content Library (please note that, in some circumstances,
TikTok may be required to ensure that Branded Content remains publicly available in the
library even if the original content is deleted or altered).
• You must ensure that the product or service you are promoting is sufficiently clear, without
requiring other users to access your profile page or any links. For instance, you should
explicitly identify the product or service verbally and/or in the text caption.
• You must not make false, deceptive or misleading claims about the products or services.

🚫
• You must not post content promoting illegal products or services.
• You must not promote products or services relating to any of the Prohibited Industries
listed below.
• You should also be aware that, if you promote products or services subject to any of the
Country-Specific Requirements listed here, or which are otherwise subject to additional
legal requirements or restrictions in specific countries or regions, we may prevent the
content from being accessed in the relevant countries, or apply other restrictions (such as
specific age limits).
• In addition, you must not:
• use surreptitious or subliminal techniques;
• prejudice respect for human dignity;
• include or promote any discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin,
nationality, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation;
• encourage behaviour prejudicial to health or safety or which is grossly prejudicial to
the protection of the environment;
• cause physical, mental or moral detriment to minors;
• directly exhort minors to buy or hire a product or service or directly encourage
minors to persuade their parents or others to purchase goods or services being
advertised; or
• exploit the special trust minors place in parents, teachers or other persons, or show
minors in dangerous situations.

Prohibited Industries
You must not post Branded Content which promotes products or services from the following 🚫
Prohibited Industries.
•🚫 Adult and sexual products and services - Including adult entertainment and related products
and services, such as pornography, sex toys, lubricants, and fetish costumes, including underwear
like corsets and micro-thongs.
• 🚫 Age rated films, TV shows and games - Including films, TV shows, and games that are
restricted to certain audiences. Please see the region-specific guidance for exceptions.
• 🚫 Alcohol - Including alcoholic beverages (wine, beer, spirits, etc.), alcohol clubs/subscription
services, alcohol-making kits, and alcohol-sponsored events. This includes alcohol-free or no-
alcohol alternatives and soft drinks presented as mixers for alcohol.
• 🚫Animals - Including buying or selling animals, and animal body parts and products from
protected, endangered or threatened animals, including organs, horns, ivory, bone, skin, fur, wool,
leather, or teeth.
• 🚫Cigarettes and tobacco products - Including cigarettes, cigars, tobacco, e-cigarettes,
cigarette containers, shisha, vaporizers or vape devices, including those without tobacco content,
and other related products and services.
• 🚫Contraceptive products and services - Including any products, services, artificial methods,
or other techniques - medical or non-medical - to prevent or terminate pregnancies, including
abortion-related services.
• 🚫Dating and live video applications or services - Including dating services and live video chat
services that are focused on generating connections between people who are interested in romance,
casual sex, sexual favors, or friendship.
• 🚫 Drug-related products and services - Including illegal drugs, drug paraphernalia,
recreational and prescription drugs, and CBD supplements.
• 🚫 Financial products or services or opportunities - Including foreign exchange, loans, credit
cards, buy now pay later services, debt consolidation or settlement services, investment services,
lending and management of money assets, trading platforms, pyramid schemes, multi-level
marketing opportunities, credit repair, bail bonds, penny auctions, virtual currencies, cash or
paycheck advance, payday loans, and “get rich quick” schemes.
• 🚫 Gambling - Including online gambling, casinos, social casinos, sports betting, fantasy sports,
bingo, lotteries, and other gambling-related content.
• 🚫 Pharmaceuticals, healthcare and medicine products - Including any medical institutions or
treatments, pharmacological products claiming health benefits, over-the-counter medicines,
prescription drugs, vitamins, and powders, shakes or gummies claiming to have vitamin or health
benefits. Teeth whitening products and hair growth products are also not allowed.
• 🚫 Political content - All political or issue-based advertising is prohibited:
• Candidates or nominees for public office, political parties, elected or appointed
government officials are prohibited from advertising.
• The spouses of candidates, elected, or appointed government officials with official
duties or offices are prohibited from advertising.
• Royal Family members with official government capacities are also prohibited from
advertising.
• Political and issue-based advertising includes:
• ads that reference, promote, or oppose candidates or nominees for public
office, political parties, or elected or appointed government officials;
• ads that reference an election, including voter registration, voter turnout, and
appeals for votes;
• ads that include advocacy for or against past, current, or proposed referenda,
ballot measures, and legislative, judicial or regulatory outcomes or processes,
including ads that promote or attack government policies or track records; and
• ads that reference, promote, sell, merchandise that feature prohibited
individuals, entities or content, including campaign slogans, symbols, or
logos.
•🚫 Products and services that enable dishonest behavior - Including products or services that
may infringe upon individual privacy, steal other people's personal information, infringe upon a
third party's intellectual and other property rights, steal other people's property, or assist with
dishonest behavior, such as fraud or falsification.
🚫
🚫
• Professional services - Including accounting services, legal services, and immigration
services. • Weapons, ammunition, or explosives - Including weapons and related parts, such as
firearms, firearm parts, firearm silencers, firearm suppressors, paintball guns, bb guns, non-culinary
knives/blades/spears, tasers, nunchucks, batons, swords, pepper-spray, fireworks or other
explosives, and other objects that are designed to cause harm to individuals or for self-defense.
•🚫 Weight loss products or services - Including weight loss clinics, weight loss/management
supplements (including fat burning pills, appetite suppressants, weight loss/detox teas, or lollipops),
and fasting services and products. Please see the region-specific guidance for exceptions.
•🚫 Counterfeit Products - content must not display or promote counterfeit documents, such as
counterfeit degrees, passports, or immigration papers, counterfeit or unauthorized replicas of a real
product.
•🚫 Other prohibited products or services - Any other businesses, products, or services that are
highly controversial, distasteful, violent, or dangerous would be deemed incompatible with the
TikTok platform. Examples include international brides, hazardous chemical products, trading of
human organs and transplants, prenatal sex determination services, and protected wild flora. This
also includes Branded Content that refers to a sensitive event or topic (e.g. deaths, natural/industrial
disasters, violent attacks, civil disorder, etc.) and contain any of the following: personal attacks,
hashtag appropriation, the selling of goods/services, political campaigning, solicitation of followers,
or other inappropriate content.
Intellectual Property Policy

Terms of Service
• Privacy Policy
• Children's Privacy Policy
• TikTok Web Cookies Policy
• Intellectual Property Policy
• Impressum
• TikTok Law Enforcement Guidelines
• Open Source Software Notices
• Virtual Items

Intellectual Property Policy


Last updated: June 7, 2021
TikTok respects the intellectual property rights of others, and we expect you to do the same.
TikTok’s Terms of Service and Community Guidelines do not allow posting, sharing, or sending
any content that violates or infringes someone else’s copyrights, trademarks or other intellectual
property rights.

Copyright
Copyright is a legal right that protects original works of authorship (e.g., music, videos, etc.).
Generally, copyright protects an original expression of an idea (e.g., the specific way a video or
music is expressed or created) but does not protect underlying ideas or facts.
Copyright Infringement
We do not allow any content that infringes copyright. The use of copyrighted content of others
without proper authorization or legally valid reason may lead to a violation of TikTok's policies.
At the same time, not all unauthorized uses of copyrighted content constitute an infringement. In
many countries, exceptions to copyright infringement allow the use of copyrighted works under
certain circumstances without authorization. These include the fair use doctrine in the United States
and permitted acts of fair dealing in the European Union (and other equivalent exceptions under
applicable local laws in other countries).
Removal of Content; Suspension or Termination of Account
Any user content that infringes an other person’s copyright may be removed. The account may be
suspended or terminated for multiple copyright violations in connection with the use of the TikTok
site or app, or other violations of the Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. We reserve the
right to refuse any account holder whose account was used for improper activities from opening a
new account on TikTok’s site or app, or otherwise hosted by TikTok.

Information for Rightsholders:


Copyright Infringement Notification
Contacting the user directly may resolve your complaint more quickly and in a way that is more
beneficial to you, the user, and our community. You may also file a Copyright Infringement Report
to request the removal of the alleged infringing content from TikTok.
All complaints should contain the information requested in our online Copyright Infringement
Report form. Failure to include necessary information may limit our ability to investigate your
claims and may result in your complaint being denied.
We may provide the account holder with your contact information, including the email address and
the name of the copyright owner, and/or details of the complaint.
Before submitting a notification, please be aware that intentionally submitting a misleading or
fraudulent report may lead to liability for damages under section 512(f) of the United States Digital
Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) or similar laws as may be applicable in other countries.
If you submit a report or infringement notification to us, we may contact you if we have additional
questions about your report or notification. Please note that TikTok is not in a position to adjudicate
disputes between third parties, and may not be able to remove the content or suspend the account
you reported. As an alternative, you may want to contact the person who posted the content or owns
the account to try to resolve your issue directly.
EU Copyright Directive
Pursuant to Article 17 of the Copyright Directive (EU 2019/790), if you want to make an enquiry
about granting an authorisation to TikTok to make your copyright-protected works available on
TikTok, please use this form. We will review your request and be in touch.
If you want to request that your music or audiovisual works are made unavailable in the EU, we
need you to file this form. So that TikTok can consider your request, you will have to provide us
with relevant and necessary information about you and your copyright works. Upon receiving this
information and validating your request, TikTok will do its best to ensure that your copyright work
is made unavailable on TikTok in the EU.
Please note that in accordance with its legal obligations TikTok provides to users and rightholders a
copyright infringement dispute resolution mechanism, however rightholders remain free to assert
their rights in court.

Information for Users: Copyright Infringement Counter-Notification


If you are a user located outside of the European Union
If you receive a copyright infringement notification that you believe to be in error or believe that
you are authorised to use the content, you can reach out to the copyright owner directly to request a
retraction.
You may also provide us with a counter-notification via our Counter Notification Form. All counter-
notification should contain the information requested in the Counter Notification Form. Failure to
include necessary information may limit our ability to investigate your claims and may result in
your counter-notification being denied.
The counter-notification process will take time to complete, please be patient. During this time, the
copyright claimant may file an action seeking a court order to keep the content down pursuant to the
United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) or similar laws in other countries. Please
note that, where appropriate and authorised by law, we will forward the entire counter-notification
to the original reporter, including any contact information you provide, in accordance with our
Terms of Services and Privacy Policy. The claimant may use this information to file a lawsuit
against you.
If we do not receive notice that the original reporter is seeking a court order to prevent further
infringement of the material at issue, we may replace or cease disabling access to the material that
was removed if the material does not infringe on third-party copyright. The decision to re-post any
material is at TikTok’s sole discretion.
If you are a user located in the European Union
If you receive a copyright infringement notification and believe that you have the right to post the
content in question, you can complete a Counter Notification Form.
Under EU law, users are allowed to use copyright works without the authorization of the copyright
holder for quotation, criticism, review and for the purpose of caricature, parody or pastiche
provided that such use is fair. EU countries may also provide for additional exceptions. See below
some further information about the exceptions and limitations to copyright available in the EU:
• Quotation, criticism and review
Quotation is the use of an extract from a copyright-protected work for purposes such as illustrating
an assertion, defending an opinion or engaging in debate. Quotations may also be used for the
purposes of criticising a copyrighted work (e.g. critical commentary on a movie) or reviewing one
(e.g. reviewing a book or an album).
• Caricature, parody and pastiche
Caricatures aim at exaggerating or distorting reality, usually for humorous purposes. A parody will
evoke an existing copyrighted work while being noticeably different from it and should constitute
an expression of humor or mockery. A pastiche will usually incorporate distinctive elements from
other works or styles into a new work.
In order for any use of copyrighted work to come within an exception or limitation it must be fair,
this means that it should, where applicable: (i) be no longer than necessary; (ii) be accompanied by
sufficient acknowledgement of the source material and (iii) not unreasonably harm the legitimate
interests of the rightholder.
Videos that fall within an exception or limitation to copyright are still subject to our Community
Guidelines. This means that such videos should not contain hate speech or involve hateful behavior
or be used to abuse, mock, humiliate, embarrass, intimidate, or hurt any person.
Please note that in accordance with its legal obligations TikTok provides to users and rightholders a
copyright infringement dispute resolution mechanism, however users remain free to assert their
rights in court.

Trademark
A trademark is a word, symbol, slogan, design, or combination of any of the foregoing that
identifies the source of a product or service and distinguishes it from other products or services.
Trademark Infringement
Trademark laws prohibit trademark infringement, which is generally the unauthorized use of a
trademark or service mark in connection with goods or services in a way that is likely to cause
confusion, deception or mistake about the source, origin, sponsorship or affiliation of the associated
goods and/or services.
At the same time, the use of another’s trademark for purposes of accurately referencing, lawfully
commenting, criticizing, parodying, or reviewing the trademark owner’s products or services, or for
purposes of comparing them to other products or services, where the mark is not used to designate
the user’s own goods or services or those of a third party, is generally not considered a violation of
our policies. Likewise, it is generally permissible to make a fan page about a brand, even without
the brand’s permission, provided that you do not claim to speak for or be associated with the brand
or otherwise violate the brand’s intellectual property rights.

Removal of Content; Suspension or Termination of Account


Any content that violate another’s trademark rights may be taken down. Repeat violations of
trademark rights in connection with the use of the TikTok site or app, or other violations of the
Terms of Service and Community Guidelines may result in the suspension or termination of the user
account. We reserve the right to refuse any account holder whose account was used for improper
activities from opening a new account on TikTok’s site or app, or otherwise hosted by TikTok.

Trademark Complaint and Notification


Contacting the user directly may resolve your complaint more quickly and in a way that is more
beneficial to you, the user, and our community. You may also file a Trademark Infringement Report.
All complaints should contain the information requested in our online Trademark Infringement
Report form. Failure to include necessary information may limit our ability to deal with your claims
and may result in your complaint being denied. We may provide the account holder with your
contact information, including the email address and the name of the trademark owner, and/or
details of the complaint, in accordance with our Terms of Services and Privacy Policy.
Before submitting a notification, please be aware that intentionally submitting a misleading or
fraudulent report may lead to liability for damages under laws as may be applicable in some
countries.

Trademark Infringement Counter-Notification


If you receive a trademark infringement notification that you believe to be in error or believe that
you are authorized to use the content, you can reach out to the trademark owner directly to request a
retraction.
You may also provide us with a counter-notification via our online Counter Notification Form. All
counter-notification should contain the information requested in our online Counter Notification
Form. Failure to include necessary information may limit our ability to investigate your claims and
may result in your counter-notification being denied.
General Note
As a TikTok user, you are responsible for the content you post. If you have questions about
copyright law or trademark law, such as questions about whether your content or your use of
another person’s name or brand infringes or otherwise violates another person’s rights, you may
want to contact an attorney. If you are unsure whether the material you plan to report to us is
infringing or otherwise violating another person’s right, you may also want to first seek legal advice
before reporting such content to us.
Commercial Music Library – User Terms

Commercial Music Library – User Terms


• These “Commercial Music Library – User Terms” (the “Terms”) apply to the use of music,
also known as “sounds” (each referred to herein as a "Commercial Sound”), from the
“Commercial Music Library” (the “Commercial Library”) made available to users of the
TikTok mobile or web application (and any version or adaptation thereof which offers lesser
features and/or functionality) (collectively, the “Platform”) or any other “permitted
platform” (described below).
• Commercial Sounds in the Commercial Library are made available to individuals, brands,
businesses, commercial entities, advertisers, or other Platform users for inclusion in a video
for posting on the Platform (each, a “Commercial Video”), which may include, but not be
limited to the following types of uses:
• The association of a Commercial Sound with a brand, logo or trademark or other
brand identifying characteristics.
• Advertising, marketing, endorsing, sponsoring or publicizing (including so-called
paid "hashtag challenges") a product and/or service on the Platform.
• Non-commercial uses in videos posted by individual users
• By using Commercial Sounds in your Commercial Videos on the Platform, you
acknowledge and agree to the following terms:
• You may only show or share Commercial Videos with incorporated Commercial
Sounds created on the Platform within the Platform and by using the sharing features
on the Platform. Any uses of Commercial Videos outside of Platform, including, but
not limited to, on third party digital platforms, television, radio or theatrical media
are outside of the rights granted to you with respect to the Commercial Library and
require you to obtain separate permission and license the necessary rights directly
from the Commercial Sound rights holder(s).
• You shall not make available, distribute, or perform the Commercial Sounds
separately from the Commercial Videos into which you have incorporated the
Commercial Sound files (i.e., standalone distribution of the Commercial Sound files
is not permitted).
• You shall not use Commercial Sounds from the Commercial Library in an illegal
manner or in any way that violates the rights of third parties, or in connection with
any content that is illegal or otherwise violates the applicable “Terms of Service”
(including any associated “Community Guidelines”) with respect to the Platform (or
other permitted platform) concerned. In addition, some of the Commercial Sounds in
the Commercial Library may be subject to additional requirements and/or
restrictions, as further specified in the Commercial Library. You agree to comply
with these additional requirements when you use Commercial Sounds.
• The Commercial Sounds are the only musical materials made available on the
Platform for business or commercial uses. Otherwise, no rights are granted for any
other sound recordings (or the musical works embodied therein) made available from
or through the Platform. Without limiting the preceding sentence, you understand,
acknowledge and agree, that the Commercial Library is completely separate and distinct
from the music library made available to individuals (non-commercial users) on the
Platform (the “General Music Library”) and that your use of music from the General Music
Library (including by way of selecting another user’s “sound” that is not a Commercial
Sound from the Commercial Library) is not a covered use nor permitted by these Terms,
“TikTok for Business Commercial Terms of Service” or the Platform’s primary “Terms of
Service” and any claims against TikTok arising from such unauthorized use is subject to
your indemnity obligation set forth below.
• By using the Commercial Sounds in your Commercial Videos, you hereby grant to TikTok
and its affiliates the right to provide to the Commercial Sounds rights holders data reporting
(e.g., engagement data including, but not limited to, views, Commercial Video creations,
likes, followers, your platform account name, country of your home offices and industry in
which you operate, your campaign name(s) and your targeted audience data, which may
include, but may not be limited to, gender, personal interests and geo-location) concerning
the usage of such Commercial Sounds (solely with respect to the Commercial Sounds that
the rights holders in question own and/or control). Any data shared by TikTok pursuant to
this paragraph will at all times be subject to applicable privacy and data sharing laws and
regulations.
• You shall be solely responsible for any claims and disputes that arise from your breach or
alleged breach of these Terms, the “TikTok for Business Commercial Terms of Service” or
TikTok’s “Terms of Service,” unauthorized use of Commercial Sounds from the Commercial
Library (wherever or however accessed) or unauthorized (unlicensed) use of music
contained in the General Music Library. In the event of any claim, including any complaint,
investigation, dispute, litigation or arbitration brought against TikTok and/or its affiliates
based on or related to an alleged breach by you of these Terms, you shall indemnify and hold
harmless TikTok and its affiliates from and against each such claim.
• If you are accessing Commercial Sounds through the TikTok Creative Center web portal
(and not via the TikTok mobile application), you must pay attention and adhere to the
"Usable Placements" designation with respect to each Commercial Sound in order to select
the appropriate Commercial Sound for your planned use. Some Commercial Sounds may
only be used in Commercial Videos (or other audiovisual content) on select “permitted
platforms,” which are denoted in the “Usable Placements” section of the web portal version
of the Commercial Library. To use Commercial Sounds in Commercial Videos (or any
audiovisual content) on media or platforms other than the permitted platforms listed under
“Usable Placements”, you must obtain separate permission from the rights holders and shall
be solely responsible for such permissions and any associated license fees. Any platform not
designated under the “Usable Placements” section shall be deemed not permitted for use of
Commercial Sounds from the Commercial Library without you first obtaining additional
consents and approvals from the applicable rights holder(s).
• If TikTok, at any time, loses the right, for any reason, to make available a particular piece of
music that was previously available as a Commercial Sound in the Commercial Library,
TikTok, in its sole discretion, may take down any Commercial Videos (or any other
associated audiovisual content) embodying the Commercial Sound in question or mute the
audio so that the Commercial Sound is no longer audible when the Commercial Video is
played. TikTok shall have no liability to you or any third party with respect to the loss of
rights associated with a particular Commercial Sound (and its removal from the Commercial
Library), or the resulting take down or muting of Commercial Videos embodying such
Commercial Sound.
Music Terms of Service

Introduction
• General terms
• How to include music in a video
• How you can use music
• How you can use music if you’re using Commercial Sounds
• Using music in Live streams
• Permitted uses by law

Music Terms of Service


Last updated: August 2023

Introduction
TikTok’s mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy, and we know that for some users music can
be a part of that expression and individuality on TikTok. That's why we've partnered with music
rights holders to permit the use of copyrighted music in your TikTok videos. These Music Terms are
intended to help you understand how music can be used on TikTok.
As a TikTok user, you agree that your use of music will follow these Music Terms, the TikTok
Terms of Service, the Community Guidelines and the Privacy Policy which govern your use of the
Platform. All capitalized terms used but not defined in these Music Terms shall have the meaning
set out in the TikTok Terms of Service.

General terms
TikTok offers its users a library of licensed music from which songs may be selected for inclusion
in videos. If you include in your video a song that was not chosen from the licensed library, then
you confirm that you are the creator of that music and/or that you have all the rights and
permissions needed to use that music in your video. Except as expressly set out in these Music
Terms, you acknowledge that no rights in the music—either in the sound recordings or the
underlying compositions embodied in them—are licensed to you under the TikTok Terms of Service
or these Music Terms.

How to include music in a video


• Below we describe some ways that you may choose to include music in your videos. In
short, you should only include music in a video if you are sure that you have the rights or
permissions to do so.
• Select audio from the general music library. When you upload your video content
to TikTok, you can select music from a list of music recordings in our TikTok music
library, which we call Sounds. Sounds are made available to individual users to
include in their videos, so long as the videos are only for personal entertainment and
non-commercial purposes. You shouldn’t use a music recording from Sounds for any
commercial purpose–including associating the music with, or promoting, a brand or
business–unless you have obtained the necessary rights to use the music in that
manner.
• Select audio from the commercial music library. You can also select music from
the TikTok Commercial Music Library, which we call Commercial Sounds. Unlike
Sounds, Commercial Sounds are made available to brands, businesses, commercial
entities, advertisers or other Platform users (including individuals) that may be using
the Platform for commercial purposes (collectively defined as a “Commercial User”).
Music recordings selected from the Commercial Music Library can be used to
promote a brand or for other commercial purposes. Your use of the Commercial
Sounds is governed by the Commercial Music Library Terms here.
• Upload your own music. Finally, you can also upload audio from your own personal
device, such as audio that contains music we’ve licensed for use on the Platform or
your own original work, by including such music directly in your TikTok video
("Original Sounds"). Your use of Original Sounds is governed by the TikTok Terms
of Service. If you’re a Commercial User, you should not use an Original Sound
uploaded by another user. If you're a Commercial User and you upload an Original
Sound to your video, you confirm that (i) you own all the rights to the music
included in the video; or (ii) the music is otherwise permitted by law; or (iii) you
have permission from all necessary rights holders to use the Original Sound on the
Platform.

How you can use music


• Music is part of the TikTok experience. But, to use music on our Platform, you must follow
a few rules.
• Non-commercial uses. Unless you’ve selected a sound from our list of Commercial
Sounds, music should only be used for personal, non-commercial purposes. Any
other use of music to sponsor, promote, co-brand or advertise or in a way that creates
an association between the music and a brand, product, good or service is prohibited
unless you have obtained separate permissions and all necessary rights.
• Short-form uses. Our global music license agreements may require us to place limits
on the duration of music that can be used in your video. While specific limitations
vary, uses of music up to one minute in length are generally permitted.
• No alterations or modifications. You can not edit or alter the fundamental character
of any copyrighted music, unless you created the underlying music or otherwise have
the rights or permissions to do so.
• No stand-alone audio. You should not use music separately as stand-alone audio
without an accompanying video.
• No illegal uses. Don’t use music in an illegal manner, in connection with illegal
content, or in violation of our Community Guidelines. In addition, music shouldn’t
be used in a political context or for political purposes unless you have separately
obtained permission from all of the rights holders to do so.
• Sharing videos on third-party platforms. In some cases, you may be able to share
TikTok videos to third-party platforms through our service. If you do share your
TikTok video to a third-party platform, your TikTok video would be subject to the
terms and conditions of that third-party platform.

How you can use music if you’re using Commercial Sounds


• Business or commercial uses: Music selected from the Commercial Sounds list can be used
for business or commercial uses, such as use in association with a brand, logo or trademark
or other brand identifying characteristics. Commercial Sounds are also made available for
advertising, marketing, endorsing, sponsoring or publicizing (including so-called paid
"hashtag challenges") a product and/or service on the Platform.
• Shared only within the Platform: You may show or share videos that include Commercial
Sounds created on the Platform within the Platform and using the sharing features on the
Platform. Any uses outside of the Platform require you to obtain separate permission and
license the necessary rights directly from all necessary rights holders unless otherwise
authorized by the Commercial Music Library - User Terms.
If you use Commercial Sounds, please read the Commercial Music Library Terms Guidelines here,
as they apply to your use of Commercial Sounds.

Using music in Live streams


There are limitations around how music can be included in Live streams. You cannot use Sounds or
Commercial Sounds in a live stream. To use your own recorded music or perform music in your
Live stream, you must have all rights and permissions you need to use or perform the music in the
Live stream. In some cases, we’ve obtained licenses for users to perform copyrighted music, such as
a cover of a song written by someone else, provided that you perform the song as written, and create
all aspects of the song itself, without incorporating recorded music.

Permitted uses by law


As part of our mission to inspire creativity and bring joy, it is important to acknowledge that music
may be used in transformative ways. While you must comply with these Music Terms, not all music
is protected by copyright and not all uses of copyrighted music would be unauthorized or require
obtaining permission. For instance, you may use works that are in the public domain, and certain
uses of copyrighted works may qualify for an exception or limitation to copyright infringement,
such as a parody or pastiche, in jurisdictions that recognize fundamental user rights.
TikTok respects intellectual property rights. We allow rights holders to report user content on the
Platform that they believe infringes their copyrights. We have established policies that describe how
rights holders can report claimed infringements and how users can dispute those reports. These
policies apply to all types of copyrighted works, including music. For more information, see our
Copyright Policy here. You should review these policies if you believe you have mistakenly
received a takedown notification.
We may remove or mute your video if we have reason to believe your use of music is unauthorized.
You acknowledge that our audio recognition system may detect unauthorized uses of music and
your content may be muted. If your content is muted or removed in error, and you have the
necessary rights to share music or your use may be permitted by law, you can appeal the issue
through our in-app notification process or the counter-notification form here.
Rewards Policy

Rewards Policy
Last update: June 2022
This Rewards Policy applies to users resident in the European Economic Area, Switzerland
and the UK.
You must be at least 18 years old to collect Rewards on the Platform.
This Rewards Policy (“Rewards Policy”) applies to users of the Platform that participate in
incentive programs offered by TikTok to incentivise users to interact with the Platform and to create
high-quality, engaging content on the Platform (“Programs”).
Users that participate in Programs can receive rewards from TikTok (“Rewards”). The Rewards
that TikTok offers (such as Diamonds, discount vouchers or merchandise) depend on the Program.
When Rewards are in Diamonds, these Diamonds can be used to obtain money (see Section 5 below
- “What can you do with Diamonds?”). Other Rewards (such as merchandise) cannot be used to
obtain money from TikTok, unless the Program Terms state otherwise.
The entities that jointly offer Programs to you are TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited (a
company registered in England) and TikTok Technology Limited (a company registered in Ireland).
However, TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited is solely responsible for any payment,
financial or tax obligations in relation to Programs.
Your participation in Programs is governed by this Rewards Policy and any Program-specific
provisions provided to you (together with this Rewards Policy, “Program Terms”). Our Terms of
Service also apply to your participation in Programs in the same way as they apply to any other
activities on the Platform, and our Privacy Policy describes how we process your personal data.
Capitalised terms not defined in this Rewards Policy have the meanings given to them in our Terms
of Service.

1. Who is eligible to participate in a Program?


To participate in a Program and collect Rewards you must:
• Be located in the country or region set out in the applicable Program-specific provisions.
• Meet any additional eligibility criteria for the Program, as set out in the relevant Program-
specific provisions.
• Be at least 18 years old.
• Have an account on the Platform.
• Have complied with all relevant obligations and not be in breach or suspected breach of the
Program Terms, our Terms of Service, our Community Guidelines or any other applicable
policies.

2. How can you participate in a Program?


The relevant Program-specific provisions include information and instructions on how to
participate.
3. Termination and suspension
Termination or suspension of your access to a Program
We may investigate any suspected breach of the Program Terms, our Terms of Service or our
Community Guidelines. While we do so, we may suspend your access to some or all the features of
the Program and to Rewards, depending on the seriousness of the suspected breach.
We may temporarily or permanently suspend or terminate your access to a Program or access to
Rewards that you have collected if:
• we determine, acting reasonably, that you are in material or repeated breach of the Program
Terms, our Terms of Service or our Community Guidelines;
• we have objective grounds to reasonably believe that you are about to seriously breach these
Program Terms, our Terms of Service or our Community Guidelines;
• we have objective grounds to reasonably believe that you have tampered with, or have
attempted to tamper with, the process or the operation of a Program; or
• we are required to do so in response to a valid legal process or request.
If your participation in a Program is terminated for these reasons, we may, acting reasonably, deduct
wholly or partially your Rewards balance or otherwise not award any Rewards. Where appropriate
and legally permissible, we will tell you if we suspend or terminate your access to a Program. If you
think we have made a mistake in suspending or terminating your access to a Program, then you can
appeal by either following the instructions to appeal on the Community Guidelines violation notice
(if applicable) or by clicking here.

Termination or suspension of a Program


We may partly or fully terminate or suspend a Program by giving you reasonable notice, including
for the following:
• there are changes in circumstances beyond our reasonable control;
• there are technical problems with a Program that cannot be resolved within a reasonable
time; or
• where changes in relevant law, a court decision or a decision by a regulatory authority
prohibits a Program in part or in full.
If we partly or fully terminate or suspend a Program for any of the above reasons, you may use the
accrued Diamonds or other Rewards that you are entitled to under the Program Terms, unless
prohibited from doing so by a court or regulatory authority.

Your withdrawal from a Program


You may end your participation in a Program at any time. If you do so, then, subject to the
provisions of the Program Terms, you will be given an opportunity to use the accrued Diamonds or
other Rewards that you are entitled to under the Program Terms.

4. How do you collect Rewards?


Rewards are intended to:
• recognise the popularity and quality of content on the Platform;
• show appreciation to users for their contribution to the Platform; and
• thank users for their active participation on the Platform.
Different Rewards apply to different Programs. Further information on collecting Rewards is set out
in the Program-specific provisions. Rewards are not exchangeable or replaceable without our
permission and you are fully responsible for all uses made of any Rewards.
We may not award Rewards, or we may deduct them from your account, if we reasonably believe
that:
• you have breached the Program Terms, our Terms of Service or our Community Guidelines;
or
• your Rewards have been obtained dishonestly.
We always do our best to ensure that we award you with the correct number and / or type of
Rewards. If, for any reason, a mistake is made when awarding a Reward, we will contact you and
correct the mistake as soon as we can.
Collecting Diamonds
Diamonds can be collected as Rewards and used in accordance with the Program Terms. You can
collect Diamonds using certain core features of the Platform, such as LIVE Gifts and Video Gifts,
or by participating in temporary campaigns (e.g. to promote new Platform functionalities or to
celebrate an event). If Diamonds are available under a Program, this will be set out in the Program-
specific provisions.
We award Diamonds as Rewards to users based on the popularity of their content. Therefore, we
take into account the Gifts sent by users to show appreciation for other users’ content when we
award Diamonds, as Gifts are the key factor to assess the popularity of content on the Platform. We
may also award Diamonds to users based on their contribution to the Platform, which may include,
for example, the duration or frequency of their content (this will be made clear to you in the
relevant Program-specific provisions). This does not always mean that a user will be able to obtain
money for the Diamonds that they have collected, as minimum Reward Payments apply (see
Sections 5 and 6 below). This means that users will have to collect a minimum number of
Diamonds before they can trigger the Reward Payment in accordance with Section 6 below. See
here for an example of how TikTok awards Diamonds to users.
We may deduct Diamonds from your account if we reasonably believe that Gifts have been sent in
breach of the Coins Policy, Terms of Service or Community Guidelines. We will, where appropriate,
give you reasonable notice if we deduct Diamonds from your account for this reason.

5. What can you do with Diamonds?


• If you participate in the Program that allows you to collect Diamonds, you can trigger
payment of the monetary value given by TikTok to those Diamonds by following the
Diamond Payment Process as described below, which will initiate the payment of money to
your external account (each a “Reward Payment”). For a Reward Payment to take place,
you must have registered for an account with a payment service provider and connected that
account to your account on the Platform.
• Diamonds cannot be exchanged for Coins, Gifts, or other virtual items without our
permission.
• Diamonds do not constitute property. We give you permission (called a licence) to collect
Diamonds. This means that you have no right or title in Diamonds except as expressly stated
in this Rewards Policy.
• You must not sell, assign or otherwise transfer Diamonds without our permission. Breaching
this restriction may result in termination of your access to a Program and/or deduction of
Rewards.
• The monetary value that TikTok has given to Diamonds will be displayed to you before you
initiate a Diamond Payment Process. The current Diamond to money conversion rates are on
the Program-specific pages (which can be accessed in the Creator Tools menu). We may
change these rates upon reasonable advance notice.
• We may terminate, upon reasonable advance notice, the ability to use Diamonds to obtain a
Reward Payment with a valid reason (such as changes beyond our reasonable control, the
implementation of a different business model or business strategy, or changes in the relevant
law, a court decision or a decision by a regulatory authority).
• Transaction fees may be applied when we make a Reward Payment to you. Details of
transaction fees are here and all transaction fees will be displayed to you before you initiate
the Diamond Payment Process.

6. How does the Diamond Payment Process work?


• To trigger a Reward Payment for Diamonds, you must use one of the payment methods that
we support in your region (e.g. PayPal). The Reward Payment will be sent to the external
account you select in accordance with the rules of the payment method provider. We reserve
the right to require this account to be registered in your own name.
• You must make sure that the information you provide is accurate, complete and up-to-date.
You will be solely responsible for any consequences (e.g. lost, stolen or misdirected funds,
or other harm) resulting from providing inaccurate or incomplete information.
• We may verify your payment information and eligibility to collect Diamonds or receive
Reward Payments, such as identity, age and location. If additional information is required,
you agree to provide us with such information upon request.
• Daily minimum and maximum Reward Payments may apply. Information on these
minimum and maximum Reward Payments is here and they will be displayed to you when
you initiate a Reward Payment.
• We may, for security reasons and/or to maintain the integrity of your account, suspend your
ability to use Diamonds to obtain a Reward Payment. We will contact you if we have to do
this. Where we need to make urgent changes for security, safety, legal or regulatory
requirements, we may not be able to provide you with advance notice, but we will let you
know as soon as we are able to. If you believe that we have made an error by suspending
your ability to use Diamonds to obtain a Reward Payment, then please contact us here.
• We are not responsible for any loss or damage caused by payment method providers,
provided it is not as a result of our actions.
• All Reward Payments will be inclusive of tax (if applicable). If you are subject to any taxes
on Rewards, you will be responsible for the payment of such taxes.
• There is no charge for participation in a Program, but we may deduct from any money
obtained through a Reward Payment the cost incurred by us in processing the Reward
Payment.

7. Changes to a Program
We may alter or change a Program at any time for legal, regulatory or business reasons. These
changes may include who can participate in a Program, how Rewards are collected or used (for
example, we may terminate the ability to use Diamonds to obtain a Reward Payment). If we do so,
we will provide you with reasonable advance notice before any such changes come into effect.
Within this notice period, you will be able to continue to use the Program under the then current
terms. If you do not agree with the proposed changes, you can withdraw from the Program before
the changes come into effect.

8. Contact Us
If you have any questions, please contact us here.

Additional languages (please also see the language settings for


other available languages)
• Bulgarian: български
• Croatian: Cruatu
• Danish: Dansk
• Estonian: Eesti keel
• Latvian: Latviski
• Lithuanian: Lietuvių
• Norwegian: Norsk
• Slovak: Slovenský
Coins Policy

Last updated: June 2022


This Coins Policy applies to users resident in the European Economic Area, Switzerland and
the UK.
You must be at least 18 years old to buy and use Coins on the Platform.
This Coins Policy (“Coins Policy”) sets out the terms and conditions that govern the purchase and
use of Coins on the Platform. The purchase and use of Coins on the Platform is entirely voluntary.
TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited (a company registered in England) and TikTok
Technology Limited (a company registered in Ireland) jointly make Coins available via the
Platform. However, the TikTok entity that is solely responsible for any payment, financial or tax
obligations in relation to Coins is TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited.
Capitalised terms not defined in this Coins Policy have the meanings given to them in our Terms of
Service and our Rewards Policy. Our Terms of Service apply to your purchase and use of Coins on
the Platform and our Privacy Policy describes how we process your personal data.

1. What are Coins and how can you use them?


Coins are virtual items that can be purchased by users of the Platform (“Coins”). Coins can only be
used on the Platform as a way to activate or access other virtual items or services that may be made
available on the Platform from time to time (“Virtual Items”).
The number of Coins that are needed to activate or access Virtual Items will be displayed to you in
advance, so, before you buy Coins, you should check how many you need. When you purchase
Coins, the cost per Coin differs depending on how many you buy at one time and where you buy
them. We will make the total price of the Coin package clear to you when you are buying Coins.
You can track your spending on Coins, and how you use them to access Virtual Items, using the
following tools:
• The total number of Coins in your account will be updated each time you purchase Coins or
use them in exchange for Virtual Items. Your account balance is shown in your Settings
(Settings and privacy > Balance) and any time you are about to use Coins to activate or
access Virtual Items.
• In your Balance, you can view your Transaction History which shows you how much you
have spent in local currency on Coins.
• In the Recharge section of your Balance, you can also view your Coin History which shows
you how you have used Coins on the Platform.

Using Coins to activate Gifts


Gifts are Virtual Items that can be activated using Coins.
You can send Gifts to interact with and show your appreciation for the content on the Platform in
accordance with our Terms of Service. When you send a Gift, other users of the Platform can see
your username and the details of the Gift that you sent. By sending Gifts, you are not transferring
money to other users of the Platform. Instead, the type and number of Gifts sent is a factor used by
TikTok in calculating the popularity of user content when awarding Diamonds to the creators of
such content, along with other factors which may apply depending on the Program, such as the
duration or frequency of that content. Diamonds can be used to obtain money from TikTok in
accordance with our Rewards Policy.
As Gifts are automatically activated with immediate effect, they are not returnable or refundable for
either Coins or money.

2. How do you buy Coins?


Coins can be purchased either through a third party app store (like Apple’s App Store or the Google
Play Store) or, in some countries, directly from TikTok through TikTok websites (“WebApp”).
TikTok may allow for additional ways to obtain Coins at its discretion.
Wherever you buy your Coins, you must:
• be a registered user of the Platform; and
• be at least 18 years old. We may refuse your request to buy Coins where we reasonably
believe that you are underage.
If you buy Coins directly from TikTok, e.g. through the WebApp, the following terms apply:
• The total price payable by you for the Coins will be displayed to you at the point of
purchase. We will display the total price on the page where the Coins are advertised for sale.
• The Coins will be downloaded into your account as soon as we receive your payment.
• We always do our best to ensure that we credit your account with the correct number of
Coins. If, for any reason, a mistake is made when crediting your account, we will contact
you and correct the mistake as soon as we can.
• If your payment method is declined, your order will be cancelled automatically. We are not
responsible for any issues between you and your card issuer, bank or other payment service
provider.
If you buy Coins through a third party app store, like Apple’s App Store or the Google Play Store,
then the applicable store’s terms of in-app purchases apply. If you have any questions about buying
Coins through a third party app store (including if you wish to cancel any purchase of Coins that
you have made), you need to contact the relevant store.

Withdrawal Rights, Refunds and Guarantees


If you have purchased Coins directly from TikTok, e.g. through the WebApp, then, except as
otherwise required by the applicable law of your country, we will not provide you with a refund
unless the Coins are defective.
If you live in the EEA or the UK, you have certain rights to withdraw from online purchases under
consumer laws. If you have purchased Coins directly from TikTok:
• You have 14 days to withdraw from your purchase of Coins and request a refund, starting
from the day after you purchase Coins (the “Withdrawal Period”). You don’t have to give
us any reason to request a refund.
• You will not be able to request a refund (i) after the Withdrawal Period or (ii) for any Coins
you have used during the Withdrawal Period.
• To withdraw from your purchase of Coins, please contact our customer support team here
and provide us with the transaction ID of the purchase that you wish to withdraw from.
Alternatively, you can complete and send us the model withdrawal form here.
• If you withdraw from your purchase, we will provide you with a refund of the payment
received from you for the Coins. Refunds will be issued to the original payment method and
may take up to 7 business days to appear in your account, depending on the payment method
used to make the purchase. TikTok will not charge you any fees in connection with the
refund.
If you have purchased Coins through a third party app store, like Apple’s App Store or the Google
Play Store, then you need to contact the relevant app store about refunds.
If you live in the EEA, then EEA consumer laws provide you with a legal guarantee covering the
Coins. Under this guarantee, we are liable for any lack of conformity you discover within two years
of the supply of the Coins. Your national laws may provide an even longer guarantee. If you have
any questions about your legal guarantee, please contact us here.

3. Your Rights
We give you permission (called a licence) to use Coins and Virtual Items for your personal use on
the Platform. This means that you have no right or title in Coins or Virtual Items except as expressly
stated in this Coins Policy. You may not buy, sell or exchange Coins or Virtual Items outside of the
Platform, or attempt to sell, give or trade Coins or Virtual Items otherwise than as expressly
permitted in this Coins Policy.
Coins do not have an expiry date. For legal, regulatory or business reasons, we may decide to stop
offering Coins or Virtual Items to certain categories of users, or in certain countries or regions, or
we may decide to stop offering Coins or Virtual Items entirely. If we do so, and our decision affects
you, we will give you reasonable advance notice. In this notice, we will let you know how long you
will have to use the Coins in your account.
We may terminate or suspend your right to buy or use Coins, or to access Virtual Items,
immediately and without notice if we have a legitimate reason to do so, including any serious or
repeated breach by you of our Terms of Service or Community Guidelines. If you believe that we
have made an error in this regard, you can either follow the instructions to appeal on the
Community Guidelines violation notice (if applicable) or you can get in touch using our feedback
form here.
You may terminate your account at any time by closing your account and stopping your use of the
Platform. Instructions for how to do this are in our Help Centre.
If your account on the Platform is terminated during the Withdrawal Period for Coins that you have
purchased, you may request a refund for any unused Coins as set out in Withdrawal Rights, Refunds
and Guarantees in section 2 above. Otherwise, you will not be entitled to a refund for unused Coins,
so, we encourage you, where possible, to use your Coins before you cease to have access to your
account on the Platform.

4. Contact us
If you have any problems when buying Coins from the WebApp, or using Coins or Virtual Items, or
have a question concerning any aspect of this Coins Policy, please contact us here.

Additional languages (please also see the language settings for


other available languages)
• Croatian: Cruatu
• Danish: Dansk
• Estonian: Eesti keel
• Latvian: Latviski
• Lithuanian: Lietuvių
• Norwegian: Norsk
• Slovak: Slovenský
TIK TOK FOR BUSINESS

TIKTOK FOR BUSINESS COMMERCIAL TERMS OF SERVICE

https://ads.tiktok.com/i18n/official/policy/commercial-terms-of-service
Last Revised: August 31, 2023

1 Your Relationship with Us

1.1 These TikTok For Business Commercial Terms of Service (these “Commercial Terms”)
govern your use of TikTok’s products and/or services, accessed through your TikTok For Business,
TikTok Ads Manager or TikTok Business Center accounts (“Commercial Products”). Commercial
Products also include any other TikTok products and/or services, where you accept these
Commercial Terms as a condition of access or use. These Commercial Terms form a legally binding
contract between you and TikTok.

1.2 For purposes of these Commercial Terms only, and unless otherwise specified:
“TikTok”, “we”, and “us” means either:
● TikTok Inc. (US), if you are based in North America;
● TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited (UK), if you are based in the United Kingdom
or Africa;
● TikTok Technology Limited (Ireland), if you are based in the EEA or Switzerland; or
● TikTok Pte. Ltd. (Singapore), if you are based in any other geographic area.
“You” or “your” means the entity or individual using the Commercial Products for its business or
commercial purposes.

1.3 Your use of the Commercial Products will constitute acceptance of these Commercial
Terms.

1.4 You must not use the Commercial Products unless you have full power and authority to
enter into, and perform the obligations under, these Commercial Terms.

1.5 You may use the Commercial Products only if you have reached the age of majority in
your jurisdiction and can enter into a binding contract with us.
1.6 If you are acting on behalf of a legal entity, you represent and warrant that the legal entity
is an entity validly existing and in good standing under the laws of its jurisdiction of incorporation
or organization.

1.7 If you are legally exempt from certain responsibilities, then those responsibilities may not
apply to you under these Commercial Terms. For example, the United Nations enjoys certain
immunities from legal obligations and as such, these Commercial Terms would not override those
immunities.

1.8 In these Commercial Terms, any phrase introduced by the terms “including”, “include”,
“in particular”, “for example” or any similar expression is intended to be illustrative and not limit
the words preceding those terms.

1.9 IF YOU ARE BASED IN THE UNITED STATES, THESE COMMERCIAL TERMS
CONTAIN AN ARBITRATION CLAUSE AND A WAIVER OF RIGHTS TO BRING A CLASS
ACTION AGAINST US AND OUR AFFILIATED INDIVIDUALS AND COMPANIES. EXCEPT
FOR CERTAIN TYPES OF DISPUTES MENTIONED IN THAT ARBITRATION CLAUSE, YOU
AND TIKTOK AGREE THAT DISPUTES INVOLVING THE COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS OR
ARISING FROM THESE COMMERCIAL TERMS WILL BE RESOLVED BY MANDATORY
BINDING ARBITRATION, AND YOU AND TIKTOK WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE
IN A CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT OR CLASS-WIDE ARBITRATION.

2 Supplemental Terms

2.1 Certain Commercial Products or features of Commercial Products are governed by


additional terms, guidelines, rules or policies (“Supplemental Terms”). Supplemental Terms
include the linked terms set out below, along with any Supplemental Terms that TikTok incorporates
by reference elsewhere in these Commercial Terms or makes available to you when using a
particular Commercial Product or feature of a Commercial Product.
(a) If you use Commercial Products to access or purchase advertising inventory or
advertising-related services, you agree to the Advertising Terms and Advertising Policies.

(b) If you use Commercial Products to promote and sell goods and services in the United
States, you agree to the US Merchant Terms of Service.

(c) If you are a brand that uses the TikTok Creator Marketplace to collaborate with others in
the United States or Canada, you agree to the TTCM Brand Terms.

(d) If you use Commercial Products to share content or interact with TikTok or others, you
agree to the Community Guidelines and the Branded Content Policy.

(e) If payment is required with respect to your use of the Commercial Products, you agree to
the Payment Terms.

(f) If you send us, or enable us to collect, Business Products Data (as defined in the Business
Products (Data) Terms), you agree to the Business Products (Data) Terms.

(g) If you use TikTok's Custom Audiences (Customer File) Product, you agree to the Custom
Audience (Customer File) Terms.

(h) If you use TikTok's Lead Generation or Lead Generation Tools and Services, you agree to
the Lead Generation Terms.

(i) If you authorize your third-party measurement partner(s) to send you TikTok European
Data (as defined in the TikTok Controller to Controller Data Terms), you agree to the Controller to
Controller Data Terms.
(j) If you are granted rights to use trademarks, trade and product names, logos, icons,
symbols or designs owned or used by TikTok, you agree to the Brand and Use Guidelines.

(k) If you use music from the Commercial Music Library (via the Creative Center or
otherwise) to make organic content or ads, you agree to the Commercial Music Library - User
Terms.

2.2 References to “these Commercial Terms” will be deemed to include any applicable
Supplemental Terms. To the extent any specific provision of the Supplemental Terms conflicts with
these Commercial Terms, the specific provision of the applicable Supplemental Terms will prevail.

2.3 Please read the TikTok for Business - Privacy and Cookie Policy to find out how TikTok
uses personal data about you that you share with TikTok or that TikTok collects or receives when
you use the Commercial Products.

3 Excluded Products and Services

3.1 Your use of certain TikTok products and services will fall outside of the scope of these
Commercial Terms where TikTok has made available separate terms. For example:

(a) Use of the TikTok mobile app, the TikTok website, and any products and/or services
accessed through your TikTok app account is governed by the Terms of Service;

(b) Use of the TikTok Creator Marketplace outside of the United States and Canada is
governed by the Brand Terms applicable to your location;
(c) Use of the Promote feature within the TikTok mobile app to help you get more people to
discover your content is governed by the various TikTok Promote terms and policies which apply in
your local market; and

(d) Use of TikTok Shop to promote and sell goods and services outside of the United States
are subject to the TikTok Shop Merchant Terms of Service and TikTok Shop Privacy Policy.

4 Your Commercial Account with Us

4.1 You may need to create one or more accounts with TikTok to access or use certain
Commercial Products (each a “Commercial Account”). You will ensure that any information you
provide to TikTok in connection with your Commercial Account is (and is kept) accurate, up-to-date
and complete.

4.2 You agree to keep any usernames or passwords for your Commercial Account
confidential and secure, and not disclose them to any unauthorized person. If you know of, or
suspect, any unauthorized access or use of your Commercial Account, you must notify TikTok
immediately at: https://www.tiktok.com/legal/report/feedback. You must not use or attempt to use
another person’s Commercial Account without their authorization.

4.3 TikTok may offer Commercial Products which enable you, as a holder of a Commercial
Account (“Account Holder”), to permit individuals or other persons to access, use or manage your
Commercial Account, or assets or features within your Commercial Account, (“Permitted Users”).
For example, a media agency may wish to grant certain access rights and permissions to an
advertiser. You are solely responsible for any activity that occurs on your Commercial Account,
including any activity of your Permitted Users, and any decisions you make to grant or revoke
access rights to Permitted Users.

4.4 If you are a Permitted User, you agree to access and use the Commercial Account of the
Account Holder solely for the purposes for which the Account Holder has granted you access and in
accordance with any permissions, terms or instructions from the Account Holder. If your
authorization is revoked, you will immediately cease to access the Account Holder’s Commercial
Account.

5 Your Access to and Use of Commercial Products

5.1 You will ensure that your use of the Commercial Products complies with all applicable
laws, regulations and industry codes of practice, and does not infringe on the rights of any third
parties. You will not access or use the Commercial Products from jurisdictions where the contents
or practices of the Commercial Products are illegal or prohibited.

5.2 If you use any application, software, software as a service, platform, dashboard, pixel,
API, SDK, cookies, code, scripts, or other technology which is provided as part of a Commercial
Product (“TikTok Commercial Technology”), you will not:

(a) to the greatest extent permitted under applicable law, modify, adapt, translate, reverse
engineer, disassemble, decompile or create any derivative works based on the TikTok Commercial
Technology, including any files, tables or documentation (or any portion thereof) or determine or
attempt to determine any source code, algorithms, methods or techniques embodied in the TikTok
Commercial Technology or any works derived from it;

(b) distribute, license, transfer or sell, in whole or in part, any of the TikTok Commercial
Technology or any works derived from it;

(c) interfere with, or attempt to interfere with, the proper working of the TikTok Commercial
Technology, disrupt any website or networks connected to the TikTok Commercial Technology, or
bypass any measures TikTok may use to prevent or restrict access to the TikTok Commercial
Technology;

(d) incorporate the TikTok Commercial Technology or any portion of it into any other
program or product;
(e) use automated scripts to collect information from or otherwise interact with the TikTok
Commercial Technology; or

(f) generate invalid or fraudulent traffic, clicks, impressions or other events in relation to the
Commercial Products, or permit any other person to do so.

5.3 Nothing in sub-Sections 5.2(d) or 5.2(e), is intended to prevent or restrict you from using
the Commercial Products that use TikTok Commercial Technology for their intended function and
purpose, as specified in writing by TikTok (for example, in the user interface or Business Help
Center for the relevant Commercial Products).

5.4 You may use third-party measurement partners to track the effectiveness and performance
of Commercial Products, provided that: (a) you work with third-party measurement partners that we
have pre-approved or approved in writing; (b) you follow our written instructions regarding the use
of such third-party measurement partners (for example, instructions given in our Business Help
Center regarding configuration of tracking links); and (c) any TikTok Commercial Technology
provided to enable the integration (for example, code) is not altered or modified without TikTok's
express approval. Except as permitted in this Section, you will not use any tracking technologies to
track or measure performance of Commercial Products or integrate any third-party cookies, pixels,
images, beacons, code, tags, persistent identifiers, or other ad service/tracking technology with any
TikTok Commercial Technology.

6 Intellectual Property Rights; Content Rights

6.1 TikTok Commercial Content

(a) All content in the Commercial Products, including software, images, text, graphics,
illustrations, templates, trademarks, marks, brands, service marks, trade names, logos, photographs,
audio, videos, music, and the “look and feel” of the Commercial Products, and all intellectual
property rights related to them (“TikTok Commercial Content”) are owned by or licensed to
TikTok.

(b) TikTok grants to you a non-exclusive, limited, non-transferable, non-sublicensable,


revocable, worldwide right to access and use the TikTok Commercial Content so that you may use
the Commercial Products for their intended function and purpose, as specified in writing by TikTok
(for example, in the user interface or Business Help Center for the relevant Commercial Products),
and for no other purpose. TikTok reserves all rights in the TikTok Commercial Content, which are
not expressly granted herein.

(c) You agree that TikTok will own any feedback, comments and suggestions for
improvements to the Commercial Products received by TikTok in connection with your use of the
Commercial Products (“Feedback”) and can use Feedback without notice, restriction or
compensation to you. You hereby assign all right, title, and interest (and waive or, where not
possible, agree not to assert any moral rights) that you may have in and to Feedback to TikTok.

6.2 Your Content

(a) You confirm and agree that all information, data, content, items and materials in any form
which are provided by you, or made available, approved, or linked to by you, or on your behalf in
connection with your use of any Commercial Product, including any software, images, text,
graphics, illustrations, affiliated names, brand identifiers, logos, trademarks, photographs, audio,
videos, music and all related intellectual property rights related to them, including any third-party
material, data or content contained therein (“Your Content”) are owned by or licensed to you.

(b) You agree that you are solely responsible for Your Content and shall ensure that Your
Content complies with the Community Guidelines and any applicable Supplemental Terms, laws
and regulations. The foregoing applies even if you commission third parties or use TikTok
Commercial Technology to create Your Content.
(c) TikTok reserves the right to remove Your Content from the Commercial Products or any
Display Site (as defined below) at any time for any or no reason.

License to TikTok
(d) By submitting Your Content through the Commercial Products, you grant TikTok a non-
exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, transferable, sublicensable license to access, use, host, cache,
store, display, publish, distribute, modify and adapt Your Content in order to develop, research,
provide, promote, and improve TikTok’s products and services.

License to Users
(e) If you are submitting Your Content through the Commercial Products for the purpose of
publication on the TikTok app, TikTok website or any other digital property (the “Display Sites”)
you acknowledge and agree that users may use and interact with Your Content on the Display Sites
and elsewhere. For example: (i) liking, commenting on or sharing Your Content; (ii) extracting all
or any portion of Your Content to produce their own content; and (iii) retaining Your Content even
after your use of the Commercial Product is complete. You agree that TikTok is not responsible for
how users use Your Content. Nothing stated herein will limit any other rights you may have,
including any actions you may take to defend your intellectual property rights. You hereby grant to
TikTok a non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide, transferable, sublicensable
right to grant to others the right to use Your Content as described above.
(f) The scope of the license you grant us above will depend on certain controls or settings in
the Commercial Products that allow you to manage how your Content is used both on and off the
Display Sites, such as turning off sharing functionalities.
6.3 Third-Party Content
(a) Display Sites may contain user-generated content and third-party ads (collectively
“Third-Party Content”). You agree that although TikTok implements tools and procedures
designed to prevent user-generated content from violating the Community Guidelines and third-
party ads from violating the Advertising Policies, TikTok is not responsible for Third-Party Content,
or the order in which Third-Party Content appears or is displayed relative to Your Content on the
Display Sites.

7 TikTok Data
7.1 As part of your use of the Commercial Products, you may receive certain data, analytics,
or reports collected, received or derived in relation to the effectiveness and/or performance of
Commercial Products (“TikTok Data”). You may use TikTok Data solely: (a) to plan and manage
how you use Commercial Products; and (b) on an aggregated and anonymized basis to assess the
effectiveness and performance of Commercial Products.

7.2 You agree not to: (a) share TikTok Data with any third party, except for persons acting on
your behalf and in compliance with these Commercial Terms; (b) attempt to, or otherwise de-
aggregate or de-anonymize TikTok Data; or (c) use TikTok Data to create or improve profiles or
segments relating to any user, device, household, or browser.

7.3 Nothing in this Section 7 is intended to prevent or restrict you from using the Commercial
Products that use TikTok Data for their intended function and purpose, as specified in writing by
TikTok (for example, in the user interface or Business Help Center for the relevant Commercial
Products).

8 Confidentiality

8.1 Each party agrees to keep confidential the other party’s Confidential Information and to
establish and maintain adequate security measures to safeguard the other party’s Confidential
Information from unauthorized access or use. “Confidential Information” means all information
of any kind which would be regarded as confidential by a reasonable business person, that has been
disclosed by one party or its employees, officers, representatives, subcontractors, affiliates or
advisers (“Representatives”) to the other party, or its Representative pursuant to these Commercial
Terms whether before or after the date of these Commercial Terms, and any confidential
information concerning the business, affairs, marketing and public relations plans, customers,
clients or suppliers of the other party. Confidential Information excludes information that: (a) is, or
becomes, generally available to the public through no act or omission by the receiving party; (b)
was available to the receiving party on a non-confidential basis prior to disclosure by the disclosing
party; (c) was, is, or becomes available to the receiving party on a non-confidential basis from a
person who, to the receiving party's knowledge, is not under any confidentiality obligation in
respect of that information; (d) is developed by or for the receiving party independently of the
information disclosed by the disclosing party; or (e) the parties agree in writing is not confidential.
8.2 Neither party will disclose the other party’s Confidential Information in whole or in part
to any other person except: (a) to its Representatives who need to know such information for the
purposes of carrying out the party’s obligations under these Commercial Terms (and the disclosing
party will procure that such persons comply with this Section 8); (b) as may be required by law, a
court of competent jurisdiction, or any governmental or regulatory authority (with reasonable
advance written notice to the other party where legally permitted); or (c) with the express prior
written consent of the other party.

8.3 Except as permitted in Section 8.2, neither party will use the other party’s Confidential
Information for any purpose other than as permitted under these Commercial Terms.

8.4 If you receive early access to alpha and beta tests for Commercial Products or product
features (each a “Test Product”), you agree that information regarding Test Products are TikTok's
Confidential Information until made public by TikTok, and may only be used by you as strictly
necessary for the purposes of reviewing and/or testing such Test Product.

9 Sanctions

9.1 You represent and warrant that you, and any Permitted Users:

(a) will comply with all applicable economic and financial sanctions and trade embargoes,
including, without limitation, those imposed, administered, or enforced by the United States,
European Union and relevant Member States, the United Kingdom, and the United Nations Security
Council (collectively “Sanctions”);

(b) will not use the Commercial Products in, or for the purposes of doing business or
providing goods or services in, a country or territory that is the target of comprehensive Sanctions;
(c) is not identified on any applicable Sanctions-related list of designated persons
(“Restricted Party Lists”), including, without limitation, those maintained by the United States,
European Union, United Nations, or United Kingdom, including the Specially Designated Nationals
and Blocked Persons List and Her Majesty’s Treasury’s Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions
Targets; and

(d) will not do business with or provide goods or services, using the Commercial Products,
directly or indirectly, to anyone on the Restricted Party Lists.

10 Termination or Suspension

10.1 TikTok reserves the right to suspend, terminate or impose restrictions on your Commercial
Account, or your access to Commercial Products if TikTok:

(a) determines that you are in breach of these Commercial Terms or that you are about to
materially breach these Commercial Terms;

(b) is legally required to do so;

(c) determines that your use of the Commercial Products causes harm or liability to other
users, a third party, or TikTok; or

(d) is reasonably required to do so in response to a serious technical or security issue.

10.2 TikTok may also terminate your Commercial Account or these Commercial Terms for
convenience if TikTok gives you at least 30 days' prior written notice.
10.3 You may terminate these Commercial Terms at any time in your sole discretion by giving
written notice to TikTok in accordance with Section 15.9(b). If you continue or resume use of the
Commercial Products after termination, you agree that such use will be subject to the Commercial
Terms then in effect. You agree to be liable for any fees incurred prior to such termination.

10.4 The provisions of these Commercial Terms which are expressly or impliedly intended to
survive the termination or expiry of these Commercial Terms will survive such termination.

11 Indemnity

11.1 You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless TikTok, its parents, subsidiaries, and
affiliates, and each of their respective officers, directors, employees, and agents (“TikTok Parties”)
from any and all claims, allegations, liabilities, costs, and expenses, including, reasonable attorneys’
fees and expenses, brought or asserted against any of the TikTok Parties, arising out of, or relating
in any way to Your Content or your breach of these Commercial Terms (“Indemnified Claims”).

11.2 Without prejudice to Section 11.1, TikTok will notify you of any Indemnified Claims it
seeks to recover, and at your expense reasonably cooperate with you in defending such Indemnified
Claims. You may not settle any Indemnified Claim that imposes any obligation or liability on us
without our express written consent. TikTok may (at its own cost) choose to participate in the
defense and settlement of the Indemnified Claims.

12 Disclaimers; Exclusion of Warranties

12.1 EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY SET OUT HEREIN, THE COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS


AND DISPLAY SITES ARE PROVIDED “AS AVAILABLE” AND “AS IS” AND TIKTOK
MAKES NO WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS OF ANY KIND TO YOU WITH
RESPECT TO THEM. EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY SET OUT HEREIN, TO THE FULLEST
EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, TIKTOK DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS,
IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING ALL WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. IN
PARTICULAR, TIKTOK DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT TO YOU THAT: YOUR
USE OF THE COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS; YOUR
USE OF THE COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE
OR FREE FROM ERROR; ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED BY YOU AS A RESULT OF
YOUR USE OF THE COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE; OR
THAT ANY DEFECTS IN THE OPERATION OR FUNCTIONALITY OF ANY TIKTOK
COMMERCIAL TECHNOLOGY WILL BE CORRECTED.

12.2 TIKTOK MAY CHANGE, SUSPEND, WITHDRAW OR RESTRICT THE


AVAILABILITY OF ALL OR ANY PART OF THE COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND/OR
DISPLAY SITES FOR BUSINESS OR OPERATIONAL REASONS AT ANY TIME WITHOUT
NOTICE OR LIABILITY TO YOU. YOU AGREE TO BE LIABLE FOR ANY FEES INCURRED
PRIOR TO SUCH SUSPENSION, TERMINATION, OR DISCONTINUATION.

12.3 THE COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS MAY INTEGRATE WITH OR LINK TO TOOLS,


SITES OR RESOURCES PROVIDED BY THIRD PARTIES (FOR EXAMPLE,
MEASUREMENT PARTNERS), YOU AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF SUCH THIRD-PARTY
SERVICES IS AT YOUR OWN RISK, IS SUBJECT TO THE THIRD-PARTY’S TERMS, AND
YOU AGREE TO COMPLY WITH SUCH THIRD-PARTY TERMS.

13 Limitations on Liability

13.1 NOTHING IN THESE COMMERCIAL TERMS WILL EXCLUDE OR LIMIT EITHER


PARTY’S LIABILITY FOR LOSSES WHICH MAY NOT BE LAWFULLY EXCLUDED OR
LIMITED.

13.2 TIKTOK AND ITS AFFILIATES WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY: (A)
INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES; OR (B)
ANY LOSS OF PROFITS OR REVENUES (WHETHER INCURRED DIRECTLY OR
INDIRECTLY), LOSS OF DATA, USE, GOODWILL, OR INTANGIBLE LOSSES, EVEN IF
TIKTOK HAS BEEN ADVISED OR SHOULD BE AWARE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF ANY
SUCH LOSSES ARISING.
13.3 THE MAXIMUM LIABILITY OF TIKTOK AND ITS AFFILIATES TO YOU WILL
NOT IN AGGREGATE EXCEED THE GREATER OF 500 USD OR THE AMOUNTS PAID BY
YOU TO TIKTOK, IF ANY, WITHIN THE 3 MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM AROSE.

13.4 THE LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS ON LIABILITY SET OUT IN SECTIONS


13.2 AND 13.3 ARE SUBJECT TO SECTION
13.1 AND APPLY TO ALL LIABILITY ARISING UNDER THESE COMMERCIAL TERMS
AND IN CONNECTION WITH THE COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS, WHETHER SUCH
LIABILITY ARISES IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE),
MISREPRESENTATION, RESTITUTION OR OTHERWISE.

14 Governing Law; Dispute Resolution

14.1 Governing Law

(a) If you are based in the United States, the laws of the state of California will govern these
Commercial Terms and any claims and disputes (whether contractual or otherwise) arising out of or
relating to these Commercial Terms or their subject matter, except as otherwise provided in Section
14.2(c).

(b) If you are based in the United Kingdom, EEA or Switzerland, the laws of England and
Wales will govern these Commercial Terms and any claims and disputes (whether contractual or
otherwise) arising out of or relating to these Commercial Terms or their subject matter, except as
otherwise provided in Section 14.3.

(c) If you are based outside of the United States, United Kingdom, EEA or Switzerland, the
laws of Singapore will govern these Commercial Terms and any claims and disputes (whether
contractual or otherwise) arising out of or relating to these Commercial Terms or their subject
matter, except as otherwise provided in Section 14.3.
14.2 Arbitration Agreement; Class Waiver – if you are based in the United States
PLEASE REVIEW THIS SECTION CAREFULLY, AS YOU AND TIKTOK MUTUALLY
AGREE TO WAIVE OUR RESPECTIVE RIGHTS TO RESOLUTION OF DISPUTES IN A
COURT OF LAW BY A JUDGE OR JURY, AND AGREE TO RESOLVE ANY CLAIM OR
DISPUTE AGAINST EACH OTHER ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS IN ARBITRATION,
EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY OTHERWISE PROVIDED IN THIS SECTION (“ARBITRATION
AGREEMENT”).

(a) Informal Resolution Process First


If we have a dispute with you relating to or arising out of these Commercial Terms, we will first try
and resolve it with you amicably. You agree to do the same for us. To be clear, when we use the
terms “TikTok,” “we,” or “us” in this Section 14, we mean TikTok Inc. and all of our affiliated
companies and individuals.
The party raising a dispute will initiate this process by notifying the other. Whichever party receives
the notice will have 60 days to respond. If the dispute has not been resolved after the response time
has expired, or within 30 days after a response has been issued, whichever is earlier, either party
may initiate arbitration, or as otherwise permitted under this Arbitration Agreement, file legal action
against the other. Engaging in this informal dispute resolution process is a requirement that must be
completed before filing any arbitration or legal action. You and TikTok agree that you both will
make a good faith effort to resolve the dispute amicably before either you or TikTok demands
arbitration or files any legal action against the other, and that the statute of limitations and any filing
fee deadlines shall be tolled while the parties engage in the informal dispute resolution process.

(b) Arbitration and Class Action Waiver

(i) Scope of Arbitration Agreement.


The parties agree and acknowledge that this Arbitration Agreement evidences a transaction
involving interstate commerce and that the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq. (“FAA”)
will govern its interpretation and enforcement.
You agree that after completing the informal dispute resolution process in this Section 14.2(a), any
remaining dispute, controversy, or claim relating to or arising out of your access to or use of the
Commercial Products under these Commercial Terms, or the existence, breach, termination,
enforcement, interpretation or validity of the Commercial Terms except as otherwise provided
below, (“Claims”), will be resolved by binding individual arbitration, rather than in court, including
with our affiliated companies and individuals. If the parties’ dispute involves some arbitrable claims
and some non-arbitrable claims, all non-arbitrable claims must be stayed until completion of the
arbitration. This Arbitration Agreement shall apply to all Claims, including those that arose or were
asserted before the effective date of this Arbitration Agreement. By accepting this Arbitration
Agreement you elect not to participate in cases that have been filed against TikTok—and others that
may be filed in the future—that attempt to assert a class action, a collective action, and
representative action claims. This Arbitration Agreement applies equally to You and TikTok.
Notwithstanding any other provision in these Commercial Terms, this Arbitration Agreement will
not require arbitration of the following types of claims: (a) small claims actions brought on an
individual basis that are within the scope of such small claims court’s jurisdiction, (b) injunctive or
other equitable relief to prevent the actual or threatened infringement, misappropriation or violation
of a party’s confidentiality rights or copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, patents or other
intellectual property rights, and (c) claims that may not be subject to arbitration as a matter of
generally applicable law, after accounting for FAA preemption.

(ii) Arbitration Rules and Forum.


The arbitration will be conducted by National Arbitration & Mediation (“NAM”) under its
Comprehensive Dispute Resolution Rules and Procedures (and, if applicable, Mass Filing
Supplemental Dispute Resolution Rules and Procedures, as discussed below) and the terms of this
Arbitration Agreement. To begin an arbitration proceeding, a party must satisfy the requirements
pursuant to NAM’s rules. The most current version of the NAM Comprehensive Dispute Resolution
Rules and Procedures and the NAM Mass Filing Supplement Dispute Resolution Rules and
Procedures are available at https://www.namadr.com/resources/rules-fees-forms/. If NAM is unable
to arbitrate the dispute for whatever reason, a court of competent jurisdiction shall appoint the
arbitrator.
The payment of all filing, administration, and arbitration fees will be governed by the NAM
Comprehensive Dispute Resolution Rules and Procedures (and, if applicable, Mass Filing
Supplement Dispute Resolution Rules and Procedures), except that (1) the prevailing party may
seek attorneys’ fees, costs, and reimbursement of NAM filing and professional service fees if the
arbitrator finds that the opposing party brought a claim, counterclaim, or defense that was either
frivolous or brought with an improper purpose, such as to harass, cause unnecessary delay, or
needlessly increase the cost of arbitration; and (2) if a party timely serves an offer of judgment
under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68 (or its state law equivalent), and the judgment that the
other party finally obtains is not more favorable than the unaccepted offer, then the other party shall
pay the costs, including filing fees, incurred after the offer was made.

(iii) Mass Filing and Bellwether Protocols.


To increase efficiency of resolution, and subject to a decision by NAM to invoke its Mass Filing
Supplemental Dispute Resolution Rules and Procedures, the following protocol will apply if 100 or
more similar arbitration demands are presented under these terms by or with the assistance of the
same law firm or collection of law firms (“Mass Filing”). For the avoidance of doubt, NAM’s Mass
Filing Supplemental Dispute Resolution Rules and Procedures shall apply if the parties’ dispute is
deemed by NAM, in its sole discretion pursuant to the NAM Rules and this Mutual Arbitration
Provision, to be part of a Mass Filing.
Any Mass Filing shall be subject to bellwether protocols intended to reach a fair and speedy
resolution of all claims included in the Mass Filing. In any Mass Filing, NAM shall randomly select
four (4) demands for arbitration to proceed, and then claimants and respondents shall each select
three (3) demands for arbitration to proceed -- for a total of ten (10) arbitrations (“Bellwether
Arbitrations”). While the Bellwether Arbitrations are adjudicated, all other demands for arbitration
that are part of the Mass Filing shall be held in abeyance and stayed, and no party shall be
responsible for paying any administrator or arbitrator fees (other than NAM’s initial
filing/administrative fees, and Procedural Arbitrator fees, if applicable) while the Bellwether
Arbitrations are adjudicated. Any applicable statute of limitations regarding those demands shall
remain tolled beginning when the Mass Filing claimant first provided the other party with notice of
its intent to initiate informal dispute resolution, as discussed above.
The parties shall work in good faith with the arbitrator to complete each Bellwether Arbitration
within 120 days of its initial pre-hearing conference.
The parties agree that these bellwether proceeding protocols are designed to achieve an overall
faster, more efficient, and less costly mechanism for resolving Mass Filings, including claims that
are not selected for Bellwether Arbitration.
Following the resolution of all of the Bellwether Arbitrations, the parties shall engage in a global
mediation of all remaining demands for arbitration comprising the Mass Filing. The mediation shall
be administered by NAM. If the parties are unable to resolve the remaining demands for arbitration
comprising the Mass Filing within 30 days following the mediation, the remaining demands for
arbitration comprising the Mass Filing shall be administered by NAM pursuant to the provisions
below regarding batching, along with NAM Rules and NAM’s Mass Filing Supplemental Dispute
Resolution Rules and Procedures .
If the parties are unavailable to achieve global resolution following the above Bellwether
Arbitrations and global mediation, these batching provisions shall apply and the arbitration provider
shall (i) consolidate the arbitration demands into batches of no more than 100 demands per batch
(plus, if there are less than 100 arbitration demands left over after the batching described above, a
final batch consisting of the remaining demands); and (ii) provide for resolution of each batch as a
single arbitration proceeding with one arbitrator assigned per batch. This batching process shall not
impact the nature of these actions as individual in nature, including that the arbitrator will make a
separate determination for each claimant, nor shall it change the burden of proof on each individual
claimant. You and TikTok both agree to cooperate in good faith with each other and the arbitration
provider to implement such a batch approach, including in working with NAM to request a different
fee schedule from that set forth in NAM’s relevant rules and that is more favorable to You and
TikTok. Any disagreement over the batch approach will be determined with all affected parties in a
single, consolidated arbitration proceeding with one arbitrator subject to the requirements of this
section and NAM’s Mass Filing Supplemental Dispute Resolution Rules and Procedures.

(iv) Arbitrator Powers.


The arbitrator will have exclusive authority to resolve any dispute relating to the scope,
interpretation or enforceability of this Arbitration Agreement, except that a court has exclusive
authority to decide whether the Class Action Waiver in Section 14.2(b)(vi) is enforceable. All
disputes regarding allocation of the arbitrator’s fees and / or the arbitration fees shall be determined
exclusively by an arbitrator. The arbitrator will have the authority to grant motions dispositive of all
or part of any claim. The arbitrator will issue a written statement of decision describing the essential
findings and conclusions on which any award (or decision not to render an award) is based,
including the calculation of any damages awarded. The award shall be binding only among the
parties and shall have no preclusive effect in any other arbitration or other proceeding involving a
different party. The arbitrator shall follow the applicable law. The arbitrator has the same authority
to award relief on an individual basis that a judge in a court of law would have. The arbitrator’s
decision is final and binding on you and TikTok.

(v) Waiver of Jury Trial.


You and TikTok waive any rights to sue in court and receive a judge or jury trial, except as specified
above.

(vi) Waiver of Class or Consolidated Actions.


You and TikTok agree to waive any right to have Claims decided on a class, collective or
representative basis, except as set forth in this Section 14.2(b)(vi) (“Class Action Waiver”). In any
case in which (1) Claims are filed as a class, collective, or representative action and (2) a civil court
of competent jurisdiction finds all or part of the Class Action Waiver unenforceable, the class,
collective, and/or representative action must be litigated in a civil court of competent jurisdiction
(as set forth below in the section regarding “Exclusive Venue”), but the portion of the Class Action
Waiver that is enforceable shall be enforced in arbitration. This provision does not prevent you or
TikTok from participating in a settlement on a class-wide, collective, or representative basis.
To the extent a public injunctive relief claim is cognizable, such a claim must take place in court
proceedings following the conclusion of any related arbitration.

(vii) Survival.
This Arbitration Agreement will survive any termination of your relationship with TikTok.

(viii) Severability.
If any portion of this Arbitration Agreement is found to be unenforceable or unlawful for any
reason, (i) the unenforceable or unlawful provision will be severed from this Arbitration Agreement,
(ii) the remainder of the Arbitration Agreement will be given full force and effect, and (iii)
severance of the unenforceable or unlawful provision will have no impact on the remainder of the
Arbitration Agreement or the parties’ ability to compel arbitration of any remaining claims on an
individual basis; provided that severance will not result in severing the Class Action Waiver in
Section 14.2(a)(vi) in any manner that permits mass arbitration, to which the parties expressly do
not consent.

(c) Exclusive venue.


These Commercial Terms and any Claims will be governed by the laws of the State of California.
To the extent the parties are permitted under this Arbitration Agreement to initiate litigation in a
court, any claim, you and TikTok agree that all Claims arising out of or relating to the Commercial
Terms will be litigated exclusively in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California or the
Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles. You also agree to submit to the
personal jurisdiction of either of these courts for the purpose of litigating any such claim.

(d) ONE YEAR LIMITATION PERIOD / LIMITATION ON LEGAL ACTION


YOU AND TIKTOK AGREE THAT YOU MUST INITIATE ANY PROCEEDING OR ACTION
WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR OF THE DATE OF THE OCCURRENCE OF THE EVENT OR FACTS
GIVING RISE TO A DISPUTE THAT IS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THESE
COMMERCIAL TERMS. OTHERWISE, YOU FOREVER WAIVE THE RIGHT TO PURSUE
ANY CLAIM OR CAUSE OF ACTION, OF ANY KIND OR CHARACTER, BASED ON SUCH
EVENTS OR FACTS, AND SUCH CLAIM(S) OR CAUSE(S) OF ACTION ARE
PERMANENTLY BARRED.

14.3 Arbitration Agreement; Class Waiver – if you are based in the United Kingdom, EEA
or Switzerland

(a) Class Action Waiver


To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, you and TikTok acknowledge and agree that each
is waiving the right to bring or participate in a class, collective, or consolidated proceeding against
each other.

(b) Exceptions to Mediation and Arbitration


Nothing in this Section 14.3 shall: (i) prevent TikTok from applying to any court or other judicial
authority of competent jurisdiction for interim relief of any kind including, without limitation,
injunctive or other equitable relief to prevent the actual or threatened infringement,
misappropriation or violation of a party's confidentiality rights or copyrights, trademarks, trade
secrets, patents or other intellectual property rights; (ii) require either party to arbitrate claims that
may not be subject to arbitration as a matter of generally applicable law (and the courts of England
and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction over such claims); or (iii) prevent either party from
bringing a claim in a court of law where it has a legal right to do so without prior mediation and/or
arbitration (as applicable), unless that legal right can be given up or changed by contractual
agreement.

(c) Procedure
If you are based in the United Kingdom, EEA or Switzerland, subject to the exceptions in Section
14.3(b), if you have any claim or dispute against TikTok arising out of or in connection with these
Commercial Terms, including any question regarding its existence, breach, termination,
enforcement, interpretation or validity, the parties shall follow the procedure set out in this Section
14.3(c):
(i) either party shall give to the other written notice of the dispute, setting out its nature and
full particulars, together with relevant supporting documents, and the parties shall agree to attempt,
promptly and in good faith, to resolve such dispute by way of confidential discussions between the
parties. The notice of dispute to TikTok must be sent to Kaleidoscope, 4 Lindsey Street, London,
United Kingdom, EC1A 9HP, Attn: Legal Department and will be deemed to have been received
upon delivery. For the avoidance of doubt, this notice provision applies notwithstanding the general
notice provisions in Clause 15.9.

(A) If the dispute has not been settled pursuant to Section 14.3(c)(i) within 30 days of the date
the written notice under clause 14.3(c)(i) was deemed received, or within such other period as the
parties may agree in writing, then the parties will refer the dispute to mediation under the
International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”) Mediation Rules or the Centre for Effective Dispute
Resolution (“CEDR”) Model Mediation Procedure. Unless otherwise agreed between the parties
within 14 days of referral of the dispute, the mediator will be nominated by the ICC or CEDR (as
applicable).

(B) If the dispute has not been settled pursuant to Section 14.3(c)(ii) within 60 days following
the filing of a request for mediation or within such other period as the parties may agree in writing,
such dispute will thereafter be finally settled under the Rules of Arbitration of the ICC, which are
incorporated by reference into this clause.

(C) Unless the parties stipulate otherwise, there will be one arbitrator (to be appointed by the
ICC), the arbitration will take place in London, England, and the arbitration will be conducted in
English.

14.4 Arbitration Agreement; Class Waiver – outside of the United States, United
Kingdom, EEA or Switzerland

(a) Class Action Waiver


To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, you and TikTok acknowledge and agree that each
is waiving the right to bring a class, collective, or consolidated proceeding against each other.

(b) Exceptions to Arbitration


Notwithstanding any other provision in these Commercial Terms, you and TikTok are not required
to arbitrate the following types of claims, which may be brought in a court of law in the applicable
jurisdiction: (a) injunctive or other equitable relief to prevent the actual or threatened infringement,
misappropriation or violation of a party's confidentiality rights or copyrights, trademarks, trade
secrets, patents or other intellectual property rights, and (b) claims that may not be subject to
arbitration as a matter of generally applicable law.

(c) Procedure
If you are based outside of the United States, United Kingdom, EEA, or Switzerland, the following
dispute procedures apply to you:

(i) Subject to the exceptions in Section 14.4(b), if you have a claim or dispute against
TikTok arising out of or in connection with these Commercial Terms, including any question
regarding its existence, breach, termination, enforcement, interpretation or validity, the parties will
first refer the dispute to proceedings at Singapore International Mediation Centre (“SIMC”), in
accordance with the Mediation Rules of SIMC for the time being in force.

(ii) If the dispute has not been settled pursuant to the paragraph above within 60 days
following the filing of a request for mediation under the Mediation Rules of SIMC or within such
other period as the parties may agree in writing, such dispute will thereafter be finally resolved by
arbitration administered by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC”) in accordance
with the Arbitration Rules of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre ("SIAC Rules") for the
time being in force, which rules are deemed to be incorporated by reference in this clause.

(iii) Unless the parties stipulate otherwise, the seat of the arbitration will be Singapore, there
will be one arbitrator appointed by SIAC, and the arbitration will be conducted in English.
15 Miscellaneous

15.1 Modifications to Commercial Terms. TikTok may modify these Commercial Terms from
time to time, so we encourage you to check them regularly for any updates. If TikTok makes
material changes to the Commercial Terms then, other than in exceptional circumstances, TikTok
will notify you in advance, such as by email or notifications in your Commercial Account. Your
continued access or use of the Commercial Products after the updates have become effective will be
deemed your acceptance of the modified Commercial Terms. Except as set out in this Section 15.1,
no variation of these Commercial Terms will be valid unless it is in writing and signed by or on
behalf of each of the parties.

15.2 Entire Agreement. These Commercial Terms constitute the entire agreement between you
and TikTok relating to the subject matter of these Commercial Terms and replaces any prior
agreements between you and TikTok in relation to the subject matter of these Commercial Terms.
Each party agrees that it has not entered these Commercial Terms in reliance upon any statement,
representation, covenant, warranty, undertaking or understanding (whether negligently or innocently
made) of any person (whether party to these Commercial Terms or not) except as expressly set out
in these Commercial Terms. Nothing in this Section, however, will exclude any liability on the part
of either party for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.

15.3 Severability. Except as otherwise provided in Section 14.2(b)(viii), if any court of law,
having jurisdiction to decide on this matter, rules that any provision of these Commercial Terms is
invalid, then that provision will be removed from the Commercial Terms without affecting the rest
of the Commercial Terms, and the remaining provisions of the Commercial Terms will continue to
be valid and enforceable.

15.4 Assignments. These Commercial Terms, and any rights or licenses granted hereunder,
may not be assigned or delegated by you without TikTok’s prior written consent. These
Commercial Terms bind and inure to the benefit of each party and the party’s successors and
permitted assigns.
15.5 No Waiver. TikTok’s failure or delay in exercising any right, power or privilege under
these Commercial Terms will not be considered a waiver.

15.6 No Partnership or Agency. You and TikTok are entering into these Commercial Terms as
independent parties. No agency, partnership, joint venture, or employee-employer relationship is
established or intended by these Commercial Terms.

15.7 Electronic Agreement. You agree to accept these Commercial Terms electronically and
that your electronic acceptance of these Commercial Terms has the same force and effect as your
signature.

15.8 Languages. Any local language translation (where applicable) of these Commercial Terms
exist for reference purposes only, and the English version will take precedence over all other
language translations except where otherwise mandated by applicable law.

15.9 Notices

(a) You agree that TikTok may communicate with you electronically about any important
information regarding your Commercial Account.

(b) In addition, except where clause 14.3 above applies, notices required by law under these
Commercial Terms must be in writing and sent: (a) if to TikTok, to 5800 Bristol Pkwy, Culver City,
CA 90230 with a copy to legal@tiktok.com, Attn: Legal Department; and (b) if to you, to the email
address or street address you have provided via your Commercial Account, or by posting on the
applicable platform and/or Commercial Account in which you access the Commercial Products.

(c) Notices will be deemed given upon personal delivery, upon delivery if by mail, upon
valid transmission through email, or 24 hours after the time the notice is posted to the applicable
platform in which you access the Commercial Products.
15.10 Complaints. You may submit any complaint to TikTok here and we will endeavour to
respond as soon as reasonably possible.
Summary of Terms and Conditions

https://www.tiktok.com/legal/page/global/summary-of-terms-and-conditions-eea/en
1. Our relationship with you
• 2. What you can and cannot do on the Platform
• 3. Other ways you can use TikTok
• 4. What if I have a problem?

Summary of Terms and Conditions


(If you are a user having your residence in the European Economic Area, Switzerland and the
UK)
This summary does not include all of the detailed information covered in our terms and policies. We
encourage you to read each of them in full.
Last updated: August 2023

1. Our relationship with you


The Terms of Service set out the agreement between you and TikTok in respect of your use of
TikTok apps (including TikTok and TikTok Now), websites, software and related services however
you access them. Our Community Guidelines also form part of our contract with you and, by
agreeing to the Terms of Service, you promise to us that you will comply with them. There’s more
detail on these below. Additional terms and policies might apply depending on the features you use,
if you want to access additional functionality, post or live stream certain kinds of content, or use the
Platform for business or commercial purposes.
You form a contract with TikTok when you accept the Terms of Service or use the TikTok Platform.
The specific TikTok company that you have a contract with depends on where you are resident.

1.1 Your responsibilities and our promises to you


• You have obligations when using the TikTok Platform:
• Our Platform and Business Model - You do not have to pay for your use of most of
the features on our Platform but, in exchange, we allow some individuals and
businesses to advertise on the Platform and we receive payment for this.
• Account Details - Your account is important. Keep it safe. Keep your details up to
date. When you create an account in one TikTok app, you will be able to access other
TikTok apps using that account (provided those apps are available in your country)
and your account details, content and settings will sync across those apps.
• Minimum Age - You need to be 13 or over to use our Platform.
• Your Content - It is important that you understand what happens to the content that
you create, post or share on the Platform and we have certain rules that should be
followed. See more information below in the Community Guidelines section.
• Ownership of Content and Grant of Licences - When you post content to the
Platform, it remains yours, but we can use it to provide the Platform and if you
choose to make your content available to others, we can show it to other users and
those other users may be able to use it too. That is what our Platform is all about. If
you later take it down, copies of it made by other users may remain on the Platform.
• What we promise to you:
• We will always seek to provide you with a great and safe user experience, but you
take the Platform as it is and understand that we do not control everything that is on
it. We also cannot promise that all the content posted on the Platform is to your
liking. If you are an EEA consumer, you have a legal guarantee covering the
Platform, and you can make a guarantee claim by contacting us.

1.2 Changing or ending our relationship with you


• Suspending or ending our relationship.
• We want you to stay, but you can go whenever you want if you close your account and stop
using the Platform. Your account applies across the Tikok app and website, TikTok Now and
any other TikTok services to which you have linked your account, so when you close your
account, you will lose access to your account across all TikTok services which are connected
to that account.
• We have rules and, if you break them, TikTok can take action against you which may
include terminating your account. See more information in the section on Actions we can
take and how you can appeal.
• We may suspend or terminate your account in other circumstances, including if we are
legally required to do so, or to deal with a serious technical or security issue.
• We may make changes to the Terms of Service or TikTok Platform.
• If the Terms of Service change, we will tell you. It won’t change anything between us that
has happened already but, if you want to keep using the Platform in the future, you will need
to agree to the changes. Our Platform will evolve as we improve it.
• Our Platform will not stay the same forever, but we will be transparent when we make major
changes.

2. What you can and cannot do on the Platform


You can do many things on our Platform but you might not be able to use every feature if you are
not old enough. We want you to enjoy using our Platform but, for the benefit of all our users, there
are rules you need to follow.
Our Community Guidelines include rules and standards for using TikTok. They apply to everyone
and everything on our Platform. Our Intellectual Property, Music and Branded Content policies may
also apply, depending on the content you post.

2.1 Community Guidelines


Our Community Guidelines list the types of content you can or cannot share.
You also need to follow our Community Principles and we have rules on the following: For You
feed (FYF) Eligibility Standards, Accounts, External Links, Comments and Direct Messages,
TikTok LIVE and Monetization.
If you are looking for help or are experiencing some of the issues we address under our Community
Guidelines, we also include quick-access links to helplines and other support resources where
applicable.
We will take enforcement action if you break these rules, including restricting your content. We
follow an enforcement process, detailed here. We may allow content to remain on the Platform
under certain public interest exceptions. More detail here.
Our Community Guidelines also set out our approach to content moderation which is built on four
pillars:
• Remove violating content from the Platform if it breaks our rules.
• Age-restrict mature content so it is only viewed by adults (18 years and older). A summary
of age-restricted content can be found here.
• Maintain For You feed (FYF) eligibility standards to help ensure any content that may be
promoted by our recommendation system is appropriate for a broad audience. A summary of
these standards can be found here.
• Empower our community with information, tools, and resources. For certain content, we
add labels, “opt-in” screens, or warnings to provide more context or notice. Our safety
toolkit helps you to filter out any content with specific hashtags or comments that you are
not comfortable seeing. We also offer account controls and in-app features with safety
resources.

2.2 Intellectual Property


We do not allow posting, sharing, or sending any content that violates or infringes someone else’s
copyrights, trademarks or other intellectual property rights. We may remove infringing user content.
You can report suspected infringements of intellectual property rights on the Platform. See more
information in this section on resolving intellectual property complaints.
Our Intellectual Property Policy explains in more detail.

2.3 Music
If you are an individual and using TikTok for personal entertainment / non-commercial purposes,
you can select music to include in your video from a list of music recordings in our TikTok Music
Library, which we call Sounds.
If you are not an individual or are using TikTok for commercial purposes, you cannot use a music
recording from the TikTok Music Library (unless you have separately obtained all necessary rights
to use that music), but you can use music recordings from the TikTok Commercial Music Library
(see the Commercial Music Library Terms, below).
If you include a song that was not chosen from the TikTok Music Library, then you confirm that
you are the creator of that music and/or that you have all the rights and permissions needed to use
that music in your video.
Unauthorised use of music may cause the video(s) to be removed or the sound(s) muted.
Our Music Terms explain in more detail.
2.4 Commercial Music Library Terms
Anyone, including businesses, can select music from our TikTok Commercial Music Library, which
we call Commercial Sounds.
Music recordings selected from Commercial Music Library can be used to promote a brand or for
other commercial purposes, but only on TikTok.
Unauthorised use of music may cause the video(s) to be removed or the sound(s) muted.
Our Commercial Music Library Terms explain in more detail.

2.5 Commercial Content


Whenever you post content that promotes a brand, product or service on the Platform, you must
disclose that commercial relationship using the commercial content disclosure toggle within the
app. The toggle is accessible within the content disclosure settings when you post a video.

If your content promotes a third party brand or its products or services in exchange for payment or
any other incentive, you must also follow the specific rules in the Branded Content Policy, which
include certain additional rules around the types of products and services you can and cannot
promote.

3. Other ways you can use TikTok


3.1 Coins
Coins are virtual items that users may purchase (“Coins”). You can use Coins to activate certain
virtual items as “Gifts” and send them to videos or live streams to show your appreciation for your
favourite creators.
We have rules on how you use Coins, and can take action if you break them. You also have certain
additional legal rights when you purchase Coins if you live in the EEA or the UK, and we have
responsibilities. Our Coins Policy provides more detail.

3.2 Rewards
Users that participate in incentive programs offered by TikTok can receive rewards from TikTok.
Some incentive programs may allow you to collect Diamonds. You can trigger payment of the
monetary value given by TikTok to those Diamonds by following our Diamond payment process.
We have rules on what you can do with Rewards including Diamonds, and can take action if you
break them.
Our Rewards Policy explains in more detail.

3.3 Business Terms


Our Business Terms also apply if you use the Platform for purposes within your trade, business,
craft or profession. Our Business Terms explain your obligations in more detail.
• Bear in mind that the products and services you access through your:TikTok For Business,
TikTok Ads Manager and TikTok Business Center accounts are governed by the Commercial
Terms of Service and not by the Business Terms.
• TikTok Shop Seller accounts are governed by the Seller Terms of Service and not by the
Business Terms.

4. What if I have a problem?


4.1 Reporting and detecting violating content
If you discover content or accounts that may violate our rules or the law, please report it to us so we
can take appropriate action. Community members can report violations in-app and on our website
here.
We aim to remove violating content and accounts before they are viewed or shared. Content on
TikTok is put through technology to review it. At this point it may be automatically removed or
flagged to be reviewed by our trust & safety team. Additional review will occur if a video gains
popularity or it has been reported.
Learn more about our enforcement efforts through our Transparency Center.

4.2 Action we can take and how you can appeal


• If you break our rules, TikTok can take action against you:
• This may include taking down content, suspending or closing your account, refusing
to open a new account, or imposing limits on, or restricting your access to features of
the Platform.
• If we suspect you have breached our rules, we may investigate and take down your
content and suspend your access in the meantime.
When your account is suspended or closed you will lose your access to the Platform, including all
TikTok apps.
If we remove or restrict access to your content, or we suspend or terminate your account, we will
notify you without undue delay and state the reasons for our decision, unless it is not appropriate for
us to do so (for example we are legally prevented from doing so).
If you think we have made a mistake in removing or restricting access to your content, or in
suspending or terminating your account, you can appeal through the appeal functionalities provided
on the Platform and we will review our decision and decide again. Further information on our
complaint handling process and other redress possibilities is set out here.

4.3 How you can resolve problems and disputes


You can always contact us here: Share your feedback
The Terms of Service has a section on resolving disputes. We hope we do not get into a dispute with
you but, if we do, there are a couple of ways we can try to resolve it. We will always try to first
resolve it with you amicably. If we cannot resolve our dispute, you or we can go to your local
courts. You can also go to the following courts:
• the courts of the Republic of Ireland will have non-exclusive jurisdiction over disputes with
TikTok Ireland Limited; and
• the courts of England & Wales will have non-exclusive jurisdiction over disputes with
TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited.
If you are resident in the EEA, you can also raise the dispute with an alternative dispute resolution
body via the EU Commission's Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) Platform.

4.4 Intellectual Property complaints


See our Intellectual Property Policy for more detail. In short:
A. Copyright
If you are a rightsholder:
• If you have a complaint, contacting the user directly may resolve it more quickly and in a
way that is more beneficial to you, the user, and our community. You may file a Copyright
Infringement Report to request the removal of the alleged infringing content from TikTok.
• Pursuant to Article 17 of the Copyright Directive (EU 2019/790):If you want to make an
enquiry about granting an authorisation to TikTok to make your copyright-protected works
available on TikTok, please use this form. If you want to request that your music or
audiovisual works are made unavailable in the EU, we need you to use this form.
If you receive a copyright infringement notification:
• Under EU law, users are allowed to use copyright works without the authorisation of the
copyright holder for quotation, criticism, review and for the purpose of caricature, parody or
pastiche provided that such use is fair. EU countries may also provide for additional
exceptions.
• If you receive a copyright infringement notification that you believe to be in error or believe
that you are authorised to use the content, you can reach out to the copyright owner directly
to request a retraction, or you can provide us with a counter-notification via our Counter
Notification Form.
B. Trademarks
If you are a rightsholder:
• Contacting the user directly may resolve your complaint more quickly and in a way that is
more beneficial to you, the user, and our community.
• You may also file a Trademark Infringement Report.
If you receive a trademark infringement notification:
• If you believe a trademark infringement notification to be in error or believe that you are
authorised to use the content, you can reach out to the trademark owner directly to request a
retraction.
• You may also provide us with a counter-notification via our online Counter Notification
Form.
Community Guidelines
https://www.tiktok.com/community-guidelines/en/overview/
Overview
Community Principles
Youth Safety and Well-Being
Safety and Civility
Mental and Behavioral Health
Sensitive and Mature Themes
Integrity and Authenticity
Regulated Goods and Commercial Activities
Privacy and Security
For You feed Eligibility Standards
Accounts and Features
Enforcement

Overview
• Community Principles
• Youth Safety and Well-Being
• Safety and Civility
• Mental and Behavioral Health
• Sensitive and Mature Themes
• Integrity and Authenticity
• Regulated Goods and Commercial Activities
• Privacy and Security
• For You feed Eligibility Standards
• Accounts and Features
• Enforcement

Community Guidelines
Overview
Last updated, March 2023
Our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. We aspire to unlock human imagination by
enabling creative expression and being a source of entertainment and enrichment everywhere. We
welcome people from around the world, as they come to TikTok to discover a diversity of ideas,
creators, and products, and to connect with others in our community. To help ensure a safe,
trustworthy, and vibrant experience, we maintain a set of Community Guidelines that include rules
and standards for using TikTok. The guidelines apply to everyone and everything on our platform.
They are informed by international legal frameworks, industry best practices, and input from our
community, safety and public health experts, and our regional Advisory Councils. We evolve them
to address emerging risks and potential harms that may occur from new behaviors.Our approach to
content moderation is built on four pillars:
1. Remove violative content from the platform that breaks our rules
2. Age-restrict mature content so it is only viewed by adults (18 years and older)
3. Maintain For You feed (FYF) eligibility standards to help ensure any content that may be
promoted by our recommendation system is appropriate for a broad audience
4. Empower our community with information, tools, and resources
Our guidelines are organized by topic area, with each rule in bold. Under each section you can click
for more information where you can find definitions, specific examples, and clarifications to
common questions about what is allowed. Please be aware that the examples do not cover
everything (we note this upfront so you don’t have to repeatedly read the phrase “including, but not
limited to”).If you are ever in doubt about what to share, keep in mind this core value — “be kind
and treat others the way that you would want to be treated.” Thanks for helping to keep TikTok a
welcoming space for everyone!

Community Principles
Last updated, March 2023
TikTok has eight guiding community principles that help embody our commitment to human rights.
Our principles are centered on balancing expression with harm prevention, embracing human
dignity, and ensuring our actions are fair. They shape our day-to-day work and guide how we
approach difficult enforcement decisions.

Balance
• Prevent harm
• Enable free expression

Dignity
• Foster civility
• Respect local context
• Champion inclusion
• Protect individual privacy

Fairness
• Provide transparency and consistency
• Be fair and just
Youth Safety and Well-Being
Last updated, March 2023
We are deeply committed to ensuring that TikTok is a safe and positive experience for people under
the age of 18 (we refer to them as “youth” or “young people”). This starts by being old enough to
use TikTok. You must be 13 years and older to have an account. There are additional age
limitations based on local law in some regions. In the United States, there is a separate under 13
TikTok experience, which provides a more limited experience designed with additional safety
protections and a dedicated Privacy Policy. If we learn someone is below the minimum age on
TikTok, we will ban that account. If an account holder believes they were incorrectly banned, they
can appeal the decision. Community members can report those who they believe are under the
minimum age, either in-app or online.
Youth safety is our priority. We do not allow content that may put young people at risk of
exploitation, or psychological, physical, or developmental harm. This includes child sexual abuse
material (CSAM), youth abuse, bullying, dangerous activities and challenges, exposure to overtly
mature themes, and consumption of alcohol, tobacco, drugs, or regulated substances. If we become
aware of youth exploitation on our platform, we will ban the account, as well as any other accounts
belonging to the person.
Our goal is to provide young people with an experience that is developmentally appropriate and
helps to ensure a safe space for self-exploration. We take several steps including: (1) limiting access
to certain product features, (2) developing Content Levels that sort content by levels of thematic
comfort, (3) using restrictive default privacy settings, and (4) making content created by anyone
under 16 ineligible for the For You feed (FYF). You must be 16 years and older to use direct
messages, and be 18 years and older to go LIVE, to send gifts to a creator during a LIVE
session, or to use monetization features. You can learn more about TikTok’s tools, controls, and
educational content on our Youth Portal and in our Guardian’s Guide.
In the sections that follow, we have many policies to promote youth safety on the platform. Click
for more information and a consolidated list of all youth-specific policies.

Safety and Civility


Last updated, March 2023
Physical and psychological safety form the foundation of individual well-being, and civility is the
key to a thriving community. Being civil does not mean people must always agree, but rather it is
about recognizing everyone’s inherent dignity and being respectful in action, words, and tone when
engaging others.

Violent Behaviors and Criminal Activities


We are committed to bringing people together in a way that does not lead to physical conflict. We
recognize that online content related to violence can cause real-world harm. We do not allow any
violent threats, incitement to violence, or promotion of criminal activities that may harm
people, animals, or property. If there is a specific, credible, and imminent threat to human life or
serious physical injury, we report it to relevant law enforcement authorities.
For details on how we approach content that contains images of or references to violence, see
Shocking and Graphic Content.
More information
NOT allowed
• Threatening or expressing a desire to cause physical injury to a person or a group
• Promoting or inciting violence, such as making a general call for an attack, encouraging
others to attack, and recommending people bring weapons to a location to intimidate others
• Promoting any type of theft, or the criminal destruction of property or the natural
environment
• Providing instructions on how to commit criminal activities that may harm people, animals,
or property
Allowed
• Threats of violence in completely fictional settings (as long as there is no relevance or
reference to the real world)

Hate Speech and Hateful Behaviors


TikTok is enriched by the various backgrounds of our community members. Our differences should
be respected, rather than a cause for division. We do not allow any hateful behavior, hate speech,
or promotion of hateful ideologies. This includes content that attacks a person or group because of
protected attributes, including:
• Caste
• Ethnicity
• National Origin
• Race
• Religion
• Tribe
• Immigration Status
• Gender
• Gender Identity
• Sex
• Sexual Orientation
• Disability
• Serious Disease
More information
Hateful ideologies are systems of beliefs that exclude, oppress, or otherwise discriminate against
individuals based on their protected attributes, such as racial supremacy, misogyny, anti-
LGBTQIA+, and antisemitism.
Protected attributes are personal characteristics that we are born with, are immutable, or cannot
change without severe psychological harm, and which may result in disproportionate stigmatization.
In addition, we also provide some protections related to age, and may consider other protected
attributes when we have additional context, such as specific regional information provided to us by
a local non-governmental organization (NGO). The attributes above are informed by the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and international conventions.
NOT allowed
• Promoting violence, exclusion, segregation, discrimination, and other harms on the basis of
a protected attribute
• Promoting any hateful ideology or claiming supremacy over a group of people on the basis
of protected attributes
• Demeaning someone on the basis of their protected attributes by saying or implying they are
physically, mentally, or morally inferior, or calling them degrading terms, such as criminals,
animals, and inanimate objects
• Using a hateful slur associated with a protected attribute
• Denying well-documented historical events that harmed groups based on a protected
attribute, such as denial of the Holocaust or the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda
• Promoting or advertising conversion therapy or related programs that attempt to change a
person’s sexual orientation or gender identity
• Intentionally targeting people who are transgender or gender non-conforming by referring to
them using their former name or gender rather than their current name or expressed gender
(deadnaming or misgendering)
• Facilitating the trade of any items that promote hate speech or hateful ideologies, such as
books and clothing with hateful logos
Allowed
• Self-referential slurs used by a member of a group with that particular protected attribute
• Educational and documentary content raising awareness against hate speech

Violent and Hateful Organizations and Individuals


We want our creators to share what inspires them, but there is no place on our platform for those
dedicated to spreading beliefs or propaganda that encourage violence or hate. We do not allow the
presence of violent and hateful organizations or individuals on our platform. These actors
include violent extremists, violent criminal organizations, violent political organizations, hateful
organizations, and individual perpetrators of mass violence. If we become aware that any such actor
may be on our platform, we will conduct a thorough review – including off-platform behavior –
which may result in an account ban.
Often the ideas of these actors are amplified by others. We do not allow anyone to promote or
materially support violent or hateful actors. Content that may appear neutral, such as referencing
a quote from a hateful organization, must make clear that there is no intent to promote it. We make
limited allowances for people to discuss violent political organizations, but only if: (1) their causes
are recognized as legitimate under international legal frameworks, (2) they do not primarily target
civilians, and (3) the content does not mention violence.
More information
Violent extremists are non-state groups, including those designated by the United Nations, that
threaten or use violence against civilians for political, religious, ethnic, or ideological reasons.
Criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groups that commit serious crimes,
including violence, trafficking, kidnapping, financial crimes, and cybercrime.
Violent political organizations are non-state groups that commit violent acts that primarily target
non-civilians and are acting legitimately under a right of self determination according to
international law, such as the United Nations Charter, a United Nations resolution, the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the international Court of Justice (ICJ).
Hateful organizations are groups who target people based on protected attributes, including
inciting hate, dehumanizing individuals or groups, and promoting hateful ideologies.
NOT allowed
• Accounts operated by organizations or individuals that promote violence or hateful
ideologies on or off-platform
• Promoting or materially supporting a violent or hateful organization, including any praise or
celebration, or the provision of goods or services
• Promoting or materially supporting any violence committed by a violent political
organization
• Promoting or materially supporting individuals who are perpetrators of mass violence or
who promote hateful ideologies
Allowed
• Discussing a violent political organization (as long as there is no mention of violence)
• Educational and documentary content that raises awareness of the harms caused by violent
and hateful actors

Youth Exploitation and Abuse


TikTok is a place for exploration and learning. Allowing young people to do so safely during their
unique phase of development is our priority. We do not allow youth exploitation and abuse,
including child sexual abuse material (CSAM), nudity, grooming, sextortion, solicitation,
pedophilia, and physical or psychological abuse of young people. This includes content that is
real, fictional, digitally created, and shown in fine art or objects.
To help you manage your TikTok experience, we apply an “opt-in” screen to content about
survivors discussing their own experiences with youth sexual exploitation or abuse.
We report incidents of youth sexual exploitation and abuse to the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children (NCMEC). We also report to relevant law enforcement authorities when there is
a specific, credible, and imminent threat to a young person’s life or serious physical injury.If you or
someone you know has experienced youth sexual exploitation, support is available. Contact a
helpline or service provider in your region.
If you are in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services. If you have had sexual
feelings towards a young person, you can connect to support and resources.
More information
Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) refers to any sexualized material of a young person that is
shared or created by anyone, including self-generated CSAM. It includes implied or clearly visible
sexual activities and sexual assault of young people, as well as the sexualization or fetishization of
their body or body parts.
Grooming is when an adult becomes friendly or otherwise builds a trusting relationship with a
young person for the purpose of sexual exploitation or abuse.
Sextortion is a threat to share nude, intimate, or sexually explicit content without consent, usually
to get money, sexual acts, or more nude, intimate, or sexually explicit content.
NOT allowed
• Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and youth nudity
• Promoting youth sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, and sexual fetishism
• Grooming behavior and sextortion
• Sexual solicitation, including inviting a young person to engage in a sexual act, go off-
platform, or share sexually explicit images (even if invited by another young person)
• Promoting pedophilia, such as supporting any form of sexual contact, expressing feelings
toward, or endorsing sexual relationships between an adult and young person
• Normalizing pedophilia, such as making jokes about pedophilia
• Showing or promoting physical abuse, neglect, endangerment, and psychological abuse of
young people
• Objectifying or sexualizing a young person through images or in-app interaction features,
such as making a duet or stitch using a young person’s content that involves imitating sexual
acts
• Revictimizing young people who have experienced exploitation and abuse, including
through third party reshares or reenactments
• Trafficking of youth, promoting or facilitating underage marriage, and recruiting child
soldiers (learn more about Human Exploitation)
Allowed
• Survivors discussing their own experiences with youth exploitation and abuse
• Educational and documentary content related to the harms of youth exploitation and abuse
(as long as it does not show such content)

Sexual Exploitation and Gender-Based Violence


We are committed to providing a space that embraces gender equity, supports healthy relationships,
and respects intimate privacy. Undermining these values can cause trauma and may lead to physical
and psychological harm. We do not allow sexual exploitation or gender-based violence,
including non-consensual sexual acts, image-based sexual abuse, sextortion, physical abuse,
and sexual harassment.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual exploitation, support is available. Contact a
helpline or service provider in your region. If you are in immediate danger, contact your local
emergency services. If you believe you have experienced an intimate privacy violation on our
platform, you can report it.
More information
Non-consensual sexual acts refer to any sexual contact that happens without the consent of
everyone involved in the activity.
Image-based sexual abuse is the creation, manufacture, or distribution of nude, partially nude, or
sexually explicit content without the consent of the person in the content, for the purpose of
sexualizing their body, or portraying them in a sexual manner.
Sextortion is a threat to share nude, intimate, or sexually explicit content without consent, usually
to get money, sexual acts, or more nude, intimate, or sexually explicit content.
Sexual harassment is unwanted sexual communication and behavior directed at a person.
NOT allowed
• Non-consensual sexual acts that are real or fictional, including rape, molestation, and non-
consensual touching
• Image-based sexual abuse and sextortion
• Physical abuse between family members or intimate partners (domestic violence)
• Editing another person’s content or image to sexualize them, or to create the appearance of
them engaging in sexual activity
• Expressing unwanted statements about engaging in sexual acts with a specific person
• Expressing degrading or vulgar statements about a person’s intimate body parts, including
genitalia, buttocks, and breasts
• Sharing (or threatening to share) details about, or shaming, a person’s private sexual life,
including sexual history, names of previous sexual partners, and sexual orientation
Allowed
• Survivors sharing their own experiences of sexual exploitation and gender-based violence
• Educational and documentary content related to the harms of sexual exploitation and gender-
based violence

Human Exploitation
We are committed to upholding individual human dignity and ensuring our platform is not used to
take advantage of vulnerable people. We do not allow human exploitation, including trafficking
and smuggling. We understand how important it is for survivors of human exploitation to share
their stories, and for migrants and refugees to be able to document their journeys, so we provide a
space to do so.
More information
Human trafficking involves earning a profit by exploiting others through the use of fraud, force, or
coercion. Considered a form of modern slavery, it can include sex, labor, youth, or organ trafficking,
forced marriage, exploitative begging, and the recruitment of youth soldiers.
Human smuggling involves earning a profit by helping a person to illegally enter another country.
It can include providing transportation, consultation, identity, and travel document fraud.
NOT allowed
• Facilitating or promoting human trafficking and human smuggling activities
• Requesting support for being smuggled illegally into a different country
Allowed
• Asking for help to leave a country specifically to escape violence, torture, or other human
rights abuses
• Expressing a desire to migrate to another country, or showing a migrant’s journey (as long as
it does not explicitly show the involvement of smugglers in their journey)
• Survivors sharing their own experiences of human exploitation
• Educational and documentary content related to the harms of human exploitation

Harassment and Bullying


We welcome the respectful expression of different viewpoints but not toxicity or trolling. We want
to ensure that anyone can share their voice without the fear of being degraded or bullied. We do not
allow language or behavior that harasses, humiliates, threatens, or doxxes anyone. This also
includes responding to such acts with retaliatory harassment (but excludes non-harassing counter
speech).
We allow some critical comments of public figures, understanding that they are in a position of
public attention and have ways to counter negative speech, and that the critique may be in the public
interest to view. However, we still remove content that violates other policies (such as threats, hate
speech, and sexual exploitation), as well as serious forms of harassment (such as doxxing and
expressing a desire for someone to experience serious physical harm).
If you or someone you know is being bullied, help is available. We offer support resources, as well
as tools that can help limit harmful interactions, including restricting options for comments, duet,
stitch, and messaging.
More information
Doxxing involves publishing personal information about someone online with a malicious intent.
We recognize intent can be subjective, so we use objective indicators to help us understand it, such
as captions and hashtags.
Public figures are adults (18 years and older) with a significant public role, such as a government
official, politician, business leader, and celebrity. We do not identify people under the age of 18 as
public figures.
NOT allowed
• Degrading someone or expressing disgust on the basis of their personal characteristics or
circumstances, such as their physical appearance, intellect, personality traits, and hygiene
• Showing someone being physically bullied by another person or group
• Degrading victims of violent tragedies, such as claiming that they deserved to die or that
surviving members are lying about the event
• Expressing a desire for a person to die, get a serious disease, or experience some other
severe physical harm
• Degrading someone with profanity or obscene language
• Threatening or encouraging others to doxx, share account information, blackmail, or to hack
someone’s account
• Promoting coordinated harassment of a person or attempting to create conflict between
people, such as calling for others to flood comments with abusive language
Allowed
• Criticism of an individual’s content or actions (as long as it does not critique their
characteristics)
• Responses to, or condemnation of, attacks or any other counter speech (as long as it does not
involve retaliatory harassment)
• Critical comments of public figures (as long as they do not constitute serious forms of
harassment or violate other policies)
• Educational and documentary content that raises awareness about the harms of harassment
and bullying

Mental and Behavioral Health


Last updated, March 2023
We care deeply about the well-being of our community members and want to be a source of
happiness, enrichment, and belonging. We welcome people coming together to find connections,
participate in shared experiences, and feel part of a broader community. We work to make sure this
occurs in a supportive space that does not negatively impact people’s physical or psychological
health.

Suicide and Self-Harm


We want TikTok to be a place where people can discuss emotionally complex topics in a supportive
way without increasing the risk of harm. We do not allow showing, promoting, or sharing plans
for suicide or self-harm.
If you or someone you know has had thoughts of suicide or self-harm, support is available. Contact
a suicide prevention helpline in your region or your local emergency services. We may contact local
emergency services, if there is a specific, credible, and imminent threat to human life or serious
physical injury, such as sharing details about a plan to harm oneself.
More information
NOT allowed
• Showing, promoting, or providing instructions on suicide and self-harm, and related
challenges, dares, games, and pacts
• Showing or promoting suicide and self-harm hoaxes
• Sharing plans for suicide and self-harm
Allowed
• Sharing messages of hope and stories of personal experiences overcoming suicide and self-
harm urges (as long as there is no mention of suicide or self-harm methods)
• Sharing suicide and self-harm prevention content, such as information on suicide warning
signs and how to access professional help
• Sharing accurate information that is trying to reduce panic about suicide hoaxes

Disordered Eating and Body Image


We want TikTok to be a place that encourages self-esteem, and does not promote negative social
comparisons. We do not allow showing or promoting disordered eating or any dangerous
weight loss behaviors.
Content is age-restricted if it shows cosmetic surgery and does not include risk warnings.
Eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorders, are serious
and may be life-threatening. If you or someone you know is experiencing concerns about body
image, food, or exercise, support is available. Contact a helpline in your region.
More information
Disordered eating includes extreme dieting or fasting, bingeing, and intentional vomiting.
Dangerous weight loss behaviors include compulsive exercise, and using potentially harmful
medication or supplements.
NOT allowed
• Showing, promoting, or requesting coaching for disordered eating and other dangerous
weight loss behaviors
• Showing or describing extremely low-calorie daily food consumption, and diets associated
with disordered eating
• Showing or promoting unhealthy body measurement and “body checking” trends, such as
comparing body part size to household objects
Age-restricted (18 years and older)
• Showing or promoting cosmetic surgery that does not include risk warnings, including
before-and-after images, videos of surgical procedures, and messages discussing elective
cosmetic surgery
Allowed
• Showing or describing competitive eating contests, such as hot dog and pie-eating contests
• Showing or describing fitness routines and nutrition that are not primarily focused on
extreme weight loss, such as preparing for competitive sports, marathon training, and body
building competitions
• Showing or describing reconstructive or medically necessary surgery, such as including
before-and-after images of the repair of a cleft lip, breast reconstruction after a mastectomy,
and gender affirmation surgery

Dangerous Activities and Challenges


We welcome when our community collectively participates in fun and creative trends. Most
activities or challenges are appropriate for everyone and bring people together, but some carry a risk
of significant injury. We do not allow showing or promoting dangerous activities and
challenges. This includes dares, games, tricks, inappropriate use of dangerous tools, eating
substances that are harmful to one’s health, or similar activities that may lead to significant physical
harm.
Content is age-restricted if it shows activities that are likely to be imitated and may lead to any
physical harm. Content is ineligible for the FYF if it involves activities that are likely to lead to
moderate physical harm, or includes professionals who are performing extreme sports and stunts
that may endanger others.
To help you manage your TikTok experience, we also apply warning information to this type of
content. If you see a dangerous activity or challenge, pause for a moment to stop and think before
you decide and act. Learn more about what to do if you see an online challenge.
More information
Dangerous activities and challenges include dares, games, tricks, and other acts performed by
non-professionals that carry inherent or known risks and which may result in significant physical
harm.
Significant physical harm typically requires professional medical treatment and creates a risk of
temporary or permanent disability or disfigurement. This includes dislocated or broken bones,
poisoning, loss of consciousness, serious burns, electrocution, concussion, and choking.
Moderate physical harm is unlikely to require professional medical treatment and does not create
a risk of disability or disfigurement. This includes small cuts with minimal blood loss and minor
bruising on the body.
NOT allowed
• Showing dangerous activities that involve visible or imminent significant physical harm, or
promoting dangerous activities
• Showing or promoting the inappropriate use of dangerous tools, such as knives, axes,
chainsaws, and welding torches
• Showing or promoting the eating or drinking of substances that are dangerous for humans to
consume, such as rocks and detergent
• Showing or promoting dangerous driving behavior, such as exceeding the speed limit,
running a red light, and distracted driving (including posing for a picture and live streaming
while driving)
Age-restricted (18 years and older)
• Showing activities that are likely to be imitated and may lead to any physical harm
FYF ineligible
• Showing activities that involve visible or imminent moderate physical harm, or promoting
activities that are likely to lead to moderate physical harm
• Showing extreme sports or stunts performed by professionals in public spaces, such as
jumps and tricks in skateboarding and freestyle bicycle motocross (BMX)
Allowed
• Using weapons, such as spears and shields, in ceremonial settings, religious festivals, and
cultural performances

Sensitive and Mature Themes


Last updated, March 2023
TikTok provides content that ranges from very family friendly to more mature. Given the diversity
of our global community, developmental and cultural considerations inform our approach to
potentially sensitive and more mature content that may be considered offensive by some. To honor
our principle of respecting local context and not imposing the norms of one country on another,
some of the exceptions to the guidelines in this section differ across regions.

Sexual Activity and Services


TikTok is a place where people can come to discuss or learn about sexuality, sex or reproductive
health. We are mindful that certain content may not be appropriate for young people, may be
considered offensive by some, or may create the potential for exploitation. We do not allow sexual
activity or services. This includes sex, sexual arousal, fetish and kink behavior, and seeking or
offering sexual services. However, it does not include reproductive health and sex education
content.
More information
Sexual activity includes sex, sexual arousal, and fetish and kink behavior.
Fetish and kink behavior includes BDSM (bondage, discipline, domination, submission, sadism,
and masochism), and sexual behaviors with non-human objects or with specific body parts (such as
a foot fetish).
Reproductive health refers to physical, mental and social well-being in all matters relating to the
reproductive system and to its functions and processes.
Sex education refers to a broad variety of topics related to sex, sexuality, sexual health, and
relationships.
NOT allowed
• Penetrative sex, non-penetrative sex, and oral sex
• Physical sexual arousal, including sexual stimulation and physical responses to sexual
arousal
• Fetish and kink activity
• Sexual services, including offering or asking for sexual services (solicitation), sexual chats,
imagery, pornography, member exclusive content, and streaming of adult content through a
webcam, such as stripping, nude modeling, and masturbation (sexcamming)
• Sexual chats, imagery, and pornography
• Member exclusive content and streaming of adult content through a webcam, such as
stripping, nude modeling, and masturbation (sexcamming)
Allowed
• Reproductive health and sex education content, such as the use of birth control and abortion
discussed in an medical way

Nudity and Body Exposure


We celebrate all shapes and sizes and want people to feel comfortable in how they present
themselves and their bodies. We understand societies approach body exposure and clothing
differently, so we seek to reflect prevailing cultural norms about nudity. We do not allow nudity,
including uncovered genitals and buttocks, as well as nipples and areolas of women and girls.
Sheer and partially see-through clothing is not considered covered. We allow regional exceptions
for showing nipples and areolas in limited situations, such as medical treatment, educational
purposes, or as a part of culturally accepted practices.
Not all young people have the developmental maturity to respond to unwanted physical attention
and uninvited sexualization, which may lead to psychological or physical harm. We do not allow
significant body exposure of young people.
Content is age-restricted if it shows significant body exposure of an adult. Content is ineligible for
the FYF if it shows moderate body exposure of a young person, or significant body exposure of an
adult. We allow regional exceptions for body exposure in limited situations, such as common
cultural practices.
More information
Nudity is showing intimate body parts that prevailing cultural norms indicate should be fully
covered. This currently includes bare genitals and buttocks of anyone, as well as nipples and areolas
of women and girls. It does not apply to nipples and areolas of men and boys (including those who
are transgender or intersex), or people who are non-binary. We recognize that there are individuals
who do not describe their gender in binary terms, and acknowledge the complexity of applying this
policy. We start by looking at how someone self-describes using first-party information and
indicators, such as captions, hashtags, and bio, and then may also look at how the person presents.
Significant body exposure includes showing part of the pubic area and buttocks, or implied nudity,
such as using an object to cover nude genitalia. For young people, it also includes wearing minimal
clothing, such as only underwear.
Moderate body exposure includes showing the visible outline of covered genitalia, nipples
through clothing, and exposed skin near an intimate body part, such as a part of a breast and the
upper part of the thigh.
NOT allowed
• Nudity of adults, including photography and digitally created images such as manga and
anime
• Nudity of young people, including visual fine art, objects, photography, and digitally created
images such as manga and anime (learn more about CSAM in Youth Exploitation)
• Significant body exposure of young people
Age-restricted (18 years and older)
• Significant body exposure of adults
FYF ineligible
• Significant body exposure of adults
• Moderate body exposure of young people
Allowed
• Non-sexualized content showing areolas or nipples of:
• infants or toddlers
• girls or women in medical contexts, for educational purposes, or as a part of a
culturally accepted practice, such as indigenous populations who do not traditionally
wear top coverings
• women in culturally expected contexts, such as breastfeeding and chestfeeding, at
political protests, or at large celebration festivals such as Carnival
• Areolas and nipples of men and boys (including those who are transgender or intersex), or
people who are non-binary
• Body exposure that appears in culturally expected contexts, such as athletes wearing sports
apparel and swimsuits at a beach or festival

Sexually Suggestive Content


We welcome performances and dances where people can creatively express themselves, celebrate
their culture, or seek to entertain. We are mindful that certain behaviors related to sexual arousal or
suggestiveness may be offensive to some people and may put young people at risk of exploitation.
We do not allow seductive performances or allusions to sexual activity by young people, or the
use of sexually explicit narratives by anyone. We do allow some artistic content with sexual
references, such as song lyrics.
Content is age-restricted if it shows seductive performances or sexualized posing by adults, or
allusions to sexual activity by adults. Content is ineligible for the FYF if it shows sex products or
intends to sexually arouse (such as intimate kissing, sexualized posing, and seductive performances
or allusions to sexual activity by adults).
More information
Intent is referenced to be clear that other people finding you sexually arousing is not against the
rules. However, we also acknowledge intent can be subjective. To help us understand it, we use
objective indicators such as captions, hashtags, bio, and sounds. We also recognize that different
regions have varying views on what is considered sexually suggestive, which further informs our
assessment.
Seductive performances involve certain body movements that are intended to be sexually
arousing, such as undressing (stripteases), pelvic thrusting, breast shaking, and fondling.
Sexualized posing is behavior with the intent to sexually arouse, through a combination of: (1)
emphasizing intimate body parts, such as by zooming in on genitals, or using hands to frame
breasts; and (2) overt sexual expressions, including suggestive captions (such as “do you like what
you see?”).
Allusion to sexual activity is behavior with the intent to call to mind sexual activity, including
imitating sexual acts (such as licking a phallic-shaped object), sounds (such as moaning), and facial
expressions (such as an “O” face to mimic an orgasm).
NOT allowed
• Sexually explicit narratives, such as vivid descriptions of sexual acts
• Seductive performances by young people
• Allusions to sexual activity by young people
Age-restricted (18 years and older)
• Seductive performances by adults
• Sexualized posing by adults
• Allusions to sexual activity by adults
FYF ineligible
• Sex products, such as sex toys
• Intimate kissing
• Sexualized posing
• Seductive performances by adults
• Allusions to sexual activity by adults
Allowed
• Sexually explicit narratives in some artistic contents, such as song lyrics

Shocking and Graphic Content


Part of the joy of TikTok is coming across new and unexpected content. But the platform is not a
place to intentionally shock, upset, or disgust others. We recognize this type of content may be
triggering, cause psychological harm, or lead to extreme discomfort. We do not allow gory,
gruesome, disturbing, or extremely violent content.
Content is age-restricted if it shows human or animal blood. Content is ineligible for the FYF if it
shows fictional violence, blood, potentially distressing or mildly graphic material, animal genitalia
or sexual activity between animals. Content is also ineligible for the FYF if it contains graphic
footage of events that are in the public interest to view.
To help you manage your TikTok experience, we also apply an “opt-in” screen or warning
information to some content, such as human or animal blood, wild animals attacking each other,
professional fighting, and potentially distressing or mildly graphic material.
More information
NOT allowed
• Real-world torture, graphic violence, and extreme physical fighting
• Graphic deaths and accidents
• Body parts that are dismembered, mutilated, charred, burned, or severely injured
Age-restricted (18 years and older)
• Blood of humans and animals
FYF ineligible
• Graphic or potentially distressing footage of events in the public interest to view, such as
clashes with law enforcement and the aftermath of a bombing or natural disaster
• Fictional graphicviolence and extreme physical fighting
• Blood of humans and animals
• Potentially distressing material that may cause anxiety or fear, such as showing non-severe
injuries and accidents, dead animals, jump scare effects, and gory make-up
• Mildly graphic material that may cause disgust, such as human and animal bodily functions
and fluids (such as urine or vomit), and close-ups of organs and certain animals (such as
insects, rats)
• Genitalia and sexual activity of animals
Allowed
• Professional fighting, such as boxing and mixed martial arts
• Blood shown in an educational context (such as menstruation) and artistic settings (such as
fine art)
• Food-related blood products, such as blood sausage, blood/black pudding, curd, and cake

Animal Abuse
We want our platform to be a place that respects animals and celebrates the ways that they enrich
our lives across different cultures and regions. We do not allow animal abuse, cruelty, neglect,
trade, or other forms of animal exploitation.
More information
NOT allowed
• Slaughtering, mutilating, and abusing animals, including staged animal fighting
• Mistreatment and neglect of animals, such as malnourishment
• Animal body parts that are dismembered, mutilated, charred, burned, or severely injured
• Wildlife hunting without clear legal permission (poaching)
• Sexual activity between an animal and a human (bestiality)
• Facilitation of trade of all live animals, and any part of an endangered animal, such as
products and medicine made from elephant ivory, tiger bones, rhino horns, and sea turtle
shells
Allowed
• Food-related animal body parts, such as barbecued chicken legs
• Educational and documentary content that raises awareness about animal abuse (as long as it
does not include graphic content of animal abuse)

Integrity and Authenticity


Last updated, March 2023
We want everyone to feel confident that they can access information that is reliable, discover
content that is original, and engage with people who are authentic. This is foundational to building a
community of trust and accountability both on TikTok and off-platform.

Misinformation
In a global community, it is natural for people to have different opinions, but we seek to operate on
a shared set of facts and reality. We do not allow inaccurate, misleading, or false content that
may cause significant harm to individuals or society, regardless of intent. Significant harm
includes physical, psychological, or societal harm, and property damage. It does not extend to
commercial and reputational harm, nor does it cover simply inaccurate information and myths. We
rely on independent fact-checking partners and our database of previously fact-checked claims to
help assess the accuracy of content.
Content is ineligible for the FYF if it contains general conspiracy theories or unverified information
related to emergencies. To be cautious, content that warrants fact-checking is also temporarily
ineligible for the FYF while it is undergoing review.
To help you manage your TikTok experience, we add warning labels to content related to unfolding
or emergency events which have been assessed by our fact-checkers but cannot be verified as
accurate, and we prompt people to reconsider sharing such content.
More information
Misinformation includes inaccurate, misleading, or false content.
Significant harm includes severe forms of:
• Physical injury and illness, including death
• Psychological trauma
• Large-scale property damage
• Societal harm, including undermining fundamental social processes or institutions, such as
democratic elections, and processes that maintain public health and public safety
Conspiracy theories are beliefs about unexplained events or involve rejecting generally accepted
explanations for events and suggesting they were carried out by covert or powerful groups.
NOT allowed
• Misinformation that poses a risk to public safety or may induce panic about a crisis event or
emergency, including using historical footage of a previous attack as if it were current, or
incorrectly claiming a basic necessity (such as food or water) is no longer available in a
particular location
• Medical misinformation, such as misleading statements about vaccines, inaccurate medical
advice that discourages people from getting appropriate medical care for a life-threatening
disease, and other misinformation that poses a risk to public health
• Climate change misinformation that undermines well-established scientific consensus, such
as denying the existence of climate change or the factors that contribute to it
• Dangerous conspiracy theories that are violent or hateful, such as making a violent call to
action, having links to previous violence, denying well-documented violent events, and
causing prejudice towards a group with a protected attribute
• Specific conspiracy theories that name and attack individual people
• Material that has been edited, spliced, or combined (such as video and audio) in a way that
may mislead a person about real-world events
FYF ineligible
• General conspiracy theories that are unfounded and claim that certain events or situations
are carried out by covert or powerful groups, such as “the government” or a “secret society”
• Unverified information related to an emergency or unfolding event where the details are still
emerging
• Potential high-harm misinformation while it is undergoing a fact-checking review
Allowed
• Statements of personal opinion (as long as it does not include harmful misinformation)
• Discussions about climate change, such as the benefits or disadvantages of particular
policies or technologies, or personal views related to specific weather events (as long as it
does not undermine scientific consensus)

Civic and Election Integrity


Elections are important moments of community conversation and promote the values of an open
society. We try to balance enabling topical discussions, while also being a platform that brings us
together and does not divide us. We do not allow paid political promotion, political advertising,
or fundraising by politicians and political parties (for themselves or others). Our political ads
policy includes both traditional paid ads and creators receiving compensation to support or oppose a
candidate for office.
We want to enable the informed exchange of civic ideas in a way that fosters productive dialogue.
We do not allow misinformation about civic and electoral processes, regardless of intent. This
includes misinformation about how to vote, registering to vote, eligibility requirements of
candidates, the processes to count ballots and certify elections, and the final outcome of an election.
Content is ineligible for the FYF if it contains unverified claims about the outcome of an election.
Learn more about Government, Politician and Political Party accounts, and our election integrity
work.
More information
Misinformation includes inaccurate, misleading, or false content.
NOT allowed
Election misinformation, including the following:
• How, when, and where to vote or register to vote
• Eligibility requirements of voters to participate in an election, and the qualifications for
candidates to run for office
• Laws, processes, and procedures that govern the organization and implementation of
elections and other civic processes, such as referendums, ballot propositions, and censuses
• Final results or outcome of an election
FYF ineligible
• Unverified claims about the outcome of an election that is still unfolding and may be false or
misleading

Synthetic and Manipulated Media


We welcome the creativity that new artificial intelligence (AI) and other digital technologies may
unlock. However, AI can make it more difficult to distinguish between fact and fiction, carrying
both societal and individual risks. Synthetic or manipulated media that shows realistic scenes
must be clearly disclosed. This can be done through the use of a sticker or caption, such as
‘synthetic’, ‘fake’, ‘not real’, or ‘altered’.
We balance the expressive value that synthetic media has against the risk of harms to individuals.
We do not allow synthetic media that contains the likeness of any real private figure. While we
provide more latitude for public figures, we do not want them to be the subject of abuse, or for
people to be misled about political or financial issues. We do not allow synthetic media of public
figures if the content is used for endorsements or violates any other policy. This includes
prohibitions on hate speech, sexual exploitation, and serious forms of harassment (learn more about
public figures in Harassment and Bullying).
More information
Synthetic media is content created or modified by AI technology. It includes highly realistic
digitally-created (fake) content of real people, such as a video of a real person speaking but their
words have been modified or changed.
Realistic scenes include showing fake people, places or events that look like they are real.
Public figures are adults (18 years and older) with a significant public role, such as a government
official, politician, business leader, and celebrity. We do not identify people under the age of 18 as
public figures.
NOT allowed
• Synthetic media showing realistic scenes that are not prominently disclosed or labeled in the
video
• Synthetic media that contains the likeness (visual or audio) of a real person, including: (1) a
young person, (2) an adult private figure, and (3) an adult public figure when used for
political or commercial endorsements, or if it violates any other policy
• Material that has been edited, spliced, or combined (such as video and audio) in a way that
may mislead a person about real-world events
Allowed
• Synthetic media showing a public figure in certain contexts, including artistic and
educational content, such as a video showing a celebrity doing a popular TikTok dance, and
a historical figure featured in a history lesson

Fake Engagement
Authentic engagement is central to the integrity of our platform and informs how we recommend
content that others may find interesting. We do not allow the trade of services that attempt to
artificially increase engagement or deceive TikTok’s recommendation system. If we become
aware of accounts or content with inauthentically inflated metrics, we will remove the associated
fake followers or likes.
Content is ineligible for the FYF if it seeks to trick or manipulate others to increase followers, likes,
or views.
More information
NOT allowed
• Facilitating the trade of services that artificially increase engagement, such as selling
followers or likes
• Providing instructions on how to artificially increase engagement on TikTok
FYF ineligible
• Content that tricks or manipulates others as a way to increase engagement metrics, such as
“like-for-like” promises and false incentives for engaging with content

Unoriginal Content and QR Codes


The creativity on TikTok is what makes it great, so you should only post your own work. We do not
allow content that violates someone else’s intellectual property rights. If we become aware of
content that is a violation, we will remove it. Learn more about our intellectual property (IP)
policies.
Content is ineligible for the FYF if it involves unoriginal or reproduced content that does not have
any new or creative changes, or contains Quick Response (QR) codes.
If you believe you have experienced an IP violation, you can file a copyright report or a trademark
report.
More information
Intellectual property refers to the ownership of something that you created, which includes
copyright and trademarks.
Copyrights are legal rights related to original works of authorship, including music and videos.
Copyrights protect the original expression of an idea (such as the specific way a video or music is
expressed or created) but do not protect underlying ideas and facts.
Trademarks are words, symbols, slogans, designs, or a combination of these that identifies the
source of a product or service and distinguishes it from other products or services.
NOT allowed
• Content that violates someone else’s copyrights, trademarks, or other intellectual property
rights
FYF ineligible
• Reproduced or unoriginal content that is imported or uploaded without any new or creative
edits, such as content with someone else’s visible watermark or superimposed logo
• Low quality content, such as extremely short clips and exclusively-GIF based videos
• QR codes (unless there is a low risk of harm, such as in the context of e-commerce)

Spam and Deceptive Account Behaviors


To build a trusted community online, it is important that the behaviors and identities of accounts are
authentic and truthful. We do not allow account behaviors that may spam or mislead our
community. This includes conducting covert influence operations, and operating spam or
impersonation accounts. Parody/fan-based accounts are allowed, as long as they are disclosed in the
account name (note that this is different than the @username).
You can set up multiple accounts on TikTok to create different channels for authentic creative
expression, but not for deceptive purposes. We do not allow the use of multiple accounts to
intentionally bypass our rules or their enforcement. If any of your accounts have been banned,
or restricted from using a feature, you must not set up or use a different account to get around the
ban or restriction.
If we determine someone has engaged in any of these deceptive account behaviors, we will ban the
account, and may ban any new accounts that are created.
More information
NOT allowed
• Spam, including
• Accounts that are operated: (1) in bulk, (2) through unauthorized automation, or (3)
in order to distribute high-volume commercial content
• Operating networks of accounts that represent similar entities or post similar content
to lead others to specific locations (on or off-platform), such as other accounts,
websites, and businesses
• Impersonation, including:
• Accounts that pose as another real person or entity, such as using someone’s name,
biographical details, content, or image without disclosing it
• Presenting as a person or entity that does not exist (a fake persona) with a
demonstrated intent to mislead others on the platform
• Covert influence operations, including:
• Attempting to sway public opinion while misleading our platform’s systems or
community members about the identity, origin, operating location, popularity, or
purpose of the account
• Circumvention, including:
• Attempting to avoid an account ban by spreading content violations across multiple
accounts
• Using an alternative account (either a new or existing one) to continue the violating
behavior that previously resulted in a ban on a different account
• Opening a new account after an account has been banned for a severe violation

Regulated Goods and Commercial Activities


Last updated, March 2023
We want everyone on TikTok to have access to information that can support them in making
informed choices about their personal health and finances. To ensure we provide a space for people
to learn without undue risk of physical or financial harm, we moderate content that involves goods
or activities that may be risky, addictive, dangerous, fraudulent, or otherwise require a higher degree
of care. For certain goods and services (such as gambling and alcohol), we make limited exceptions
for paid ads by advertisers with TikTok’s explicit permission, provided they are compliant with all
relevant age-targeting restrictions, laws, and regulations (learn more about our advertisement
policy).

Gambling
Many people around the world find entertainment through games of chance. While TikTok is an
entertainment platform, we recognize that risking money in a game or a bet may lead to potential
harm for some people, including serious financial loss or addiction. We do not allow the
promotion of gambling services.
More information
Gambling is betting money (including digital currencies such as bitcoin) or something of monetary
value on an event with an uncertain outcome, to try and get a financial gain.
NOT allowed
• Promoting gambling services, such as casinos, poker, slot games, roulette, lotteries, betting
tips, gambling-related software, and apps.

Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drugs


While adults make personal choices about how they engage with alcohol, drugs, and tobacco, we
recognize that there are risks connected to trading and using these substances. We do not allow
showing or promoting recreational drug use, or the trade of alcohol, tobacco products, and
drugs.
We also recognize that using these substances can put young people at a heightened risk of harm.
We do not allow showing or promoting young people possessing or consuming alcohol,
tobacco products, and drugs.
Content is age-restricted and ineligible for the FYF if it shows adults consuming excessive amounts
of alcohol or tobacco products.
Learn more about substance use and find information for treatment, support and recovery resources.
More information
Tobacco products include vaping products, smokeless or combustible tobacco products, synthetic
nicotine products, E-cigarettes, and other Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems.
Regulated substances include prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, compressed air canisters
(whippets), and nitrite poppers.
NOT allowed
• Showing or promoting young people possessing or consuming alcohol, tobacco products,
drugs, or other regulated substances
• Showing or promoting adults consuming drugs or other regulated substances for a
recreational purpose
• Showing the misuse of common household items or over-the-counter products to get
intoxicated, such as antihistamines, nutmeg, nitrous oxide canisters, and sniffing glue
• Providing instructions on how to make homemade spirits, drugs, or other regulated
substances
• Facilitating the trade or purchase of alcohol, tobacco products, drugs, or other regulated
substances
Age-restricted (18 years and older)
• Consumption of excessive amounts of alcohol by adults
• Consumption of tobacco products by adults
FYF ineligible
• Consumption of excessive amounts of alcohol by adults
• Consumption of tobacco products by adults
Allowed
• Raising awareness about substance misuse and sharing recovery stories
• Advocating for the reform of drug policies and regulations

Firearms and Dangerous Weapons


TikTok can be a place that educates people on the responsible use and ownership of weapons, as
well as the associated potential for serious harm. Firearms and explosive weapons can cause severe
injury or death, especially when used in an unsafe manner. We do not allow the trade of firearms
or explosive weapons, or content showing or promoting them if they are not used in a safe or
appropriate setting.
More information
Firearms includes professionally manufactured firearms, improvised firearms (such as ghost guns
and 3D printed guns), firearm accessories, and ammunition.
Safe or appropriate settings include professional contexts (such as military and police),
recreational environments (such as shooting ranges and hunting), educational forums, and fictional
settings.
NOT allowed
• Showing or promoting firearms or explosive weapons that are not used in a safe or
appropriate setting
• Facilitating the trade of, or offering instructions on how to make, firearms or explosive
weapons

Trade of Regulated Goods and Services


Regulated goods and services often play an important and essential role in people’s lives. And it is
important to understand that these items are regulated for a reason. TikTok is not a place for illegal
traffic or trade, or an unofficial market (Black or Gray markets). We do not allow facilitating the
trade of regulated, prohibited, or high-risk goods and services, such as alcohol, tobacco
products, regulated substances, firearms and other dangerous weapons, sexual services,
animals, or counterfeit goods. This includes instructions on how to manufacture regulated
substances or firearms.
More information
Facilitation of trade includes the sale, purchase, redirection, exchange, and giveaway of regulated
goods and services. This includes providing webpages or physical locations, sharing contact
information, and redirecting people to interact on or off-platform (including direct messaging).
Tobacco products include vaping products, smokeless and combustible tobacco products, synthetic
nicotine products, E-cigarettes, and other Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems.
Regulated substances include prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, compressed air canisters
(whippets), and nitrite poppers.
Firearms includes professionally manufactured firearms, improvised firearms (such as ghost guns
and 3D printed guns), firearm accessories, and ammunition.
NOT allowed
Facilitating the trade of regulated, prohibited, or high-risk goods and services, including the
following:
• Alcohol and tobacco products
• Illegal drugs, prescription and over-the-counter drugs, and other regulated substances
• Firearms and explosive weapons
• Counterfeit products, such as luxury goods
• Fake currency, documents, and stolen information
• Sexual services, including offering or asking for sexual services (solicitation), sexual chats,
imagery, pornography, member exclusive content, and streaming of adult content through a
webcam, such as stripping, nude modeling, and masturbation (sexcamming)
• Live animals, and any part of an endangered animal, such as products and medicine made
from elephant ivory, tiger bones, rhino horns, and sea turtle shells
• Any items that promote hate speech, hateful ideologies, or hateful organizations, such as
books and clothing with hateful logos

Commercial Disclosures and Paid Promotion


We value authentic viewpoints and want people to be open and honest about any goods or services
discussed on our platform. To avoid misleading people, it is important to acknowledge any material
relationship with a third party that may be relevant to the crediblity of your statements. Creators
who promote goods or services in return for something of value must disclose it using our
branded content tool or a caption in video (if the tool is unavailable in your region). This
includes paid partnerships and brand endorsement. For other types of material relationships, the
creator must also make a clear disclosure about such connections in a video caption.
We do not allow any form of paid political promotion on TikTok. Learn more about our policy
regarding Government, Politician and Political Party accounts.
More information
Material relationship refers to a relationship that may have a significant impact on the credibility
of any representation or endorsement and that would not be reasonably expected. This may include
personal, family, employment, and financial relationships.
Branded content is content that promotes goods or services where you receive something of value
from a third party, such as a brand, in exchange for your post. This includes content that is required
to be disclosed by your local laws or regulations.
Disclosures are clear statements that explain your relationship to a third party. Relationships
include receiving financial compensation from, having a relative who works for, and being an
employee of that third party.
Something of value may refer to cash payments, free products, store credit, discounts, and special
access to products, services, or events.
REQUIRED disclosures
• Branded content, by using the branded content toggle (or a caption in video if the tool is
unavailable in your region)
• Information about your own business, when it might not otherwise be clear from the context
that you may benefit from future commercial transactions
• Affiliate and referral links that are included in an independent review of a product or service
and which may result in a referral fee or a commission for any subsequent purchase
• Research about a product, service, or industry when you have a relationship or connection
with a company or industry involved in the manufacture or sale of that product or service

Frauds and Scams


We want people to be able to use our platform to learn about ways to be financially responsible and
consider economic transactions or investment opportunities, without worrying about scams or
financial exploitation. We do not allow attempts to defraud or scam members of our
community.
Learn more about how to identify online scams and protect yourself.
More information
Frauds and scams are deceitful and deceptive acts that often exploit others for monetary gain or to
obtain an individual’s personal information.
NOT allowed
• Financial and individual-targeted scams, identity theft or phishing scams, and scams related
to investments, financial transactions, or jobs
• Coordination, facilitation, or instructions on how to carry out scams
• Organizational fraud, such as money laundering and moving illegally acquired money for
someone else (money muling)
• Recruitment for companies that sell products or services in a pyramid structure through
independent distributors (multi-level marketing or MLM)
• Facilitating the trade of fake currency, documents, and stolen information

Privacy and Security


Last updated, March 2023
We know that protecting your privacy rights and personal information, and keeping our platform
secure, are critical to maintaining your trust and ensuring your safety.

Personal Information
Content shared online may be seen by anyone, and has a wide reach. We are committed to making
sure that any personal information shared intentionally or accidentally on TikTok does not lead to
harm. We do not allow content that includes personal information that may create a risk of
stalking, violence, phishing, fraud, identity theft, or financial exploitation. This includes
content that someone has posted themselves or that they consented to being shared by others.
If you believe you have experienced a privacy violation, you can report it.
More information
NOT allowed
• Personal non-public phone numbers and home addresses
• Financial and payment information, such as bank account and credit card numbers
• Login information, such as usernames and passwords
• Identity documentation, cards, or numbers, such as passports, government-issued
identifications, and social security numbers
• Threats or encouragement to share personal information or to hack someone’s account

Platform Security
We work hard to protect and secure people and information on TikTok. We do not allow: (1) access
to any part of TikTok through unauthorized methods; (2) attempts to obtain sensitive,
confidential, commercial, or personal information; or (3) any abuse of the security, integrity,
or reliability of our platform.
You should avoid clicking on suspicious links or responding to requests for information about your
TikTok account details, passwords, verification qualification, financial, and other personal
information. Learn more about our approach to privacy and security on the platform.
More information
NOT allowed
• Providing access to your account credentials to others or enabling others to conduct
activities that violate our Community Guidelines
• Accessing our platform in an unauthorized way, or creating fake versions of our platform
• Sharing malicious files, content, and messages that contain viruses, Trojan horses, worms,
logic bombs, or other harmful materials endangering cyber security
• Attempting to obtain personal information (such as login credentials) or access content,
accounts, systems, or data through the use of any deceptive technique (such as phishing,
smishing, automated scripts, and web crawling)
• Modifying, adapting, translating, reverse engineering, disassembling, decompiling, or
creating any derivative products based on TikTok, including any files, tables or
documentation, and attempting to regenerate any source code, algorithms, methods, or
techniques embodied in TikTok

For You feed Eligibility Standards


Last updated, March 2023
The For You feed (FYF) is a unique TikTok feature that uses a personalized recommendation
system to allow each community member the ability to discover a breadth of content, creators, and
topics. In determining what gets recommended, the system takes into account factors such as likes,
shares, comments, searches, diversity of content, and popular videos. Learn more about the
recommendation system, as well as tools to help customize recommendations.
Certain types of content may be fine if seen occasionally, but problematic if viewed in clusters
(such as videos that involve dieting, extreme fitness, sadness, or sexual suggestiveness). This type
of content may be eligible for the FYF but, to protect our community, we will interrupt repetitive
content patterns to ensure it is not viewed too often. Learn more about our approach to safeguarding
and diversifying recommendations.
We maintain content eligibility standards for the FYF that prioritize safety and are informed by the
diversity of our community and cultural norms. While the spontaneity of the FYF is what makes
TikTok unique, it is intended for a range of audiences that includes everyone from teenagers to great
grandparents. We make ineligible for the FYF certain content that may not be appropriate for
a broad audience related to: (1) Behavioral Health, (2) Sensitive and Mature Themes, (3)
Integrity and Authenticity, and (4) Regulated Goods. We may also make some of this content
harder to find in search.
We also know that the FYF opens creators to a large audience, which is not always appropriate for
some young people. To give youth suitable room for exploration, we also do not make eligible for
the FYF any content from accounts of creators under the age of 16.
Content that is ineligible for the FYF can still be discovered in other ways, such as through search
tools or by following an account. For a consolidated list of the specific types of content that are not
eligible for the FYF, refer to “more information” below.
More information
The following types of content are allowed on our platform but do not meet our standards for the
For You Feed (FYF). For additional discussion, use the links to visit each of the topic areas above.
It should also be noted that when a video does not get many views, it may be due to a lack of
community engagement rather than being ineligible for the FYF. Creators can use the TikTok
analytics tool to track the performance of their videos.
FYF Ineligible
• Youth Safety
• Any content created by an under-16 account
• Dangerous Activities and Challenges
• Showing activities that involve visible or imminent moderate physical harm
• Promoting activities that may lead to moderate physical harm
• Showing extreme sports or stunts performed by professionals in public spaces, such
as jumps and tricks in skateboarding and freestyle bicycle motocross (BMX)
• Body Exposure
• Significant body exposure of adults
• Moderate body exposure of young people
• Sexually Suggestive Content
• Sex products, such as sex toys
• Intimate kissing
• Sexualized posing
• Seductive performances by adults
• Allusions to sexual activity by adults
• Shocking and Graphic Content
• Graphic or potentially distressing footage of events in the public interest to view,
such as clashes with law enforcement and the aftermath of a bombing or natural
disaster
• Fictional graphic violence and extreme physical fighting
• Blood of humans and animals
• Potentially distressing material that may cause anxiety or fear, such as showing non-
severe injuries, accidents, jump scare effects, and gory make-up
• Mildly graphic material that may cause disgust, such as human and animal bodily
functions and fluids (such as urine or vomit), dead animals, and close-ups of organs
and certain animals (such as insects, rats)
• Genitalia and sexual activity of animals
• Misinformation
• General conspiracy theories that are unfounded and claim that certain events or
situations are carried out by covert or powerful groups, such as “the government” or
a “secret society”
• Unverified information related to an emergency or unfolding event where the details
are still emerging
• Potential high-harm misinformation while it is undergoing a fact-checking review
• Civic and Election Integrity
• Unverified claims about the outcome of an election that is still unfolding and may be
false or misleading
• Fake Engagement
• Content that tricks or manipulates others as a way to increase engagement metrics,
such as “like-for-like” promises and false incentives for engaging with content
• Unoriginal Content and QR Codes
• Reproduced or unoriginal content that is imported or uploaded without any new or
creative edits, such as content with someone else’s visible watermark or
superimposed logo
• Low quality content, such as extremely short clips and exclusively-GIF based videos
• QR codes (unless there is a low risk of harm, such as in the context of e-commerce)
• Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drugs
• Consumption of excessive amounts of alcohol by adults
• Consumption of tobacco products by adults
Key definitions
Significant body exposure includes showing part of the pubic area and buttocks, or implied nudity,
such as using an object to cover nude genitalia. For young people, it also includes wearing minimal
clothing, such as only underwear.
Moderate body exposure includes showing the visible outline of covered genitalia, nipples
through clothing, and exposed skin near an intimate body part, such as a part of a breast and the
upper part of the thigh.
Sexualized posing is behavior with the intent to sexually arouse, through a combination of: (1)
emphasizing intimate body parts, such as by zooming in on genitals, or using hands to frame
breasts; and (2) overt sexual expressions, including suggestive captions (such as “do you like what
you see?”).
Allusion to sexual activity is behavior with the intent to call to mind sexual activity, including
imitating sexual acts (such as licking a phallic-shaped object), sounds (such as moaning), and facial
expressions (such as an “O” face to mimic an orgasm).
Conspiracy theories are beliefs about unexplained events or involve rejecting generally accepted
explanations for events and suggesting they were carried out by covert or powerful groups.
Tobacco products include vaping products, smokeless or combustible tobacco products, synthetic
nicotine products, E-cigarettes, and other Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems.

Accounts and Features


Last updated, March 2023

Accounts
You must be 13 years and older to have an account. There are additional age limitations based on
local law in some regions. In the United States, there is a separate under 13 TikTok experience,
which provides a more limited experience designed with additional safety protections and a
dedicated Privacy Policy. If we learn someone is below the minimum age on TikTok, we will ban
that account.
Violating our guidelines can lead to enforcement actions on accounts. We will ban accounts or
users if they engage in: (1) a single severe content violation, (2) repeated content violations
within a 90-day period, (3) circumvention, or (4) the operation of accounts dedicated to
activity that violates our rules. This includes all activities that indicate a primary purpose that is
not allowed on our platform, such as accounts focused on hate speech, the trade of prohibited
goods, spam, and impersonation (learn more about circumvention and dedicated accounts in Spam
and Deceptive Account Behaviors).
We will also ban an account if we become aware that the account holder is a violent or hateful actor
or has been convicted of a sexual crime or other serious offense against a young person. We may
consider off-platform activity related to violence, hate, and child sexual exploitation and abuse to
help make decisions about these account bans. We report accounts to law enforcement authorities if
there is a specific, credible, and imminent threat to human life or serious physical injury.
Repeatedly posting content that is allowed on our platform but not eligible for the FYF may lead to
the account and its content being harder to find in search. Learn more about our general approach to
account enforcement.

Government, Politician, and News Accounts


Governments, politicians, and news entities all play important roles in civic processes and civil
society. While we treat their content just like any other account and remove violations, we approach
account-level enforcement differently to align with our commitment to human rights and free
expression. These public interest accounts will be banned for any single severe content violation,
such as threatening violence. For repeated content violations that are less severe, they will be
temporarily ineligible to appear in the FYF and in the feeds of their followers. In limited
circumstances, they may also be temporarily restricted from posting new content. Learn more about
our approach to public interest accounts.
More information
Governments and politicians include federal/national elected officials and candidates,
state/provincial/territorial/local government entities, cabinet ministers, and official spokespeople.
Learn more about who is considered to be a Government, Politician and Political Party account.
News entities include organizations primarily dedicated to publishing news content to inform or
educate. To qualify as a news account, the account must be legally licensed, certified or recognized
by an intergovernmental organization, regulator, or reputable press organization.
Severe violations include the following:
• Showing, promoting, or facilitating youth exploitation and child sexual abuse material
(CSAM)
• Promoting or threatening violence
• Showing or promoting non-consensual sex acts, such as rape and molestation
• Facilitating human trafficking
• Showing real-world torture
• Using another account after a permanent account ban, and continuing to violate our
guidelines

External Links
Our community members often share links in their profile, bio, or content to connect people to
additional content or to other sites. While some links may be helpful or informative, others connect
to harmful content that would not be allowed on our platform. Do not post links that direct people
to content that would violate our guidelines. If we find a link in violation of our guidelines, it will
result in the link being removed or an account ban.
It can be difficult to determine where a Quick Response (QR) code image may lead to and whether
the connected content will be safe. Content is ineligible for the FYF if it contains QR codes, unless
there is a low risk of harm, such as in the context of e-commerce.

Comments and Direct Messages


Comments and direct messages on TikTok allow our users to interact with videos or directly with
others, and provide an integral interactive experience to the platform. You must be 16 years and
older to use direct messages.
Our guidelines listed above also apply to comments and messages. A violation of our rules will
result in the removal of the content or a restriction on sending direct messages, and may lead
to an account ban.
TikTok LIVE
TikTok LIVE allows our community to interact in real-time. To bolster a safe experience on LIVE,
we have a higher minimum age threshold for this feature. You must be 18 years and older to go
LIVE, and to send gifts to a creator during a LIVE session.
Our guidelines listed above also apply to going LIVE. A violation of our rules will result in
closing an ongoing LIVE session, and may lead to restrictions on using LIVE or an account
ban. Repeatedly livestreaming content that is ineligible for the FYF may result in your account not
being eligible for the FYF or being harder to find in search.

Monetization
We offer tools that let creators monetize their content, and that give businesses the ability to operate
and expand their enterprise. You must be 18 years and older to use monetization features.
Accounts must satisfy the relevant entry criteria to be eligible for our monetization features. A
violation of our rules may result in a temporary restriction of monetization features, and
repeated violations will lead to a permanent restriction or an account ban. Content that is not
eligible in the FYF may be restricted from monetization features.
All commercial content on our platform must comply with the relevant monetized feature policy,
such as the Branded Content Policy, TikTok’s Ads Creative Policy, Industry Entry Policy, and
TikTok Shop Policies. Commercial content includes exchanging something of value between
creators, a third party and creator (such as Branded Content), a creator and business (such as e-
commerce), or a creator and TikTok (such as the Creator fund).

Enforcement
Last updated, March 2023

Public Interest Exceptions


We recognize that some content that would otherwise violate our rules can be in the public interest
to view. This does not simply refer to what the public may be interested in. Public interest refers to
topics that inform, inspire, or educate the community and enhance deliberation about matters of
broad collective significance. We may allow content to remain on the platform under one of the
following public interest exceptions:
• Documentary
• Educational
• Medical and Scientific
• Counterspeech
• Satirical
• Artistic
Our approach to content moderation uses the same criteria, no matter who creates it. The most
important factor we consider in looking at public interest exceptions is context, such as captions,
voice over, and similar signals. We encourage creators to clearly show the context to help us in our
review process.
We may add extra safety measures to some content allowed under a public interest exception, such
as an “opt-in” screen or warning information. We do not provide public interest exceptions for
content that may cause extreme harm, such as showing a suicide or sexual abuse of a young person.

Detection and Reporting


We aim to remove content or accounts that violate our guidelines before they are viewed or shared
by other people in order to reduce potential harm. Content on TikTok first goes through technology
that reviews it against our guidelines. If content is identified as a potential violation, it will be
automatically removed, or flagged for additional review by our trust & safety team. Additional
review will occur if a video gains popularity or has been reported. Community members can report
violations in-app and on our website. If you discover content or accounts that may violate our
guidelines, please let us know so we can take appropriate action if warranted. Learn more about our
enforcement efforts through our Transparency Center.

Notice and Appeals


In keeping with our commitment to ensuring procedural fairness, we seek to provide notifications to
community members if they have violated our rules. If you have posted a video, comment, audio, or
livestreamed content that we do not allow, you will be notified in the app along with the violation
reason. If your account has been banned because of a violation, you will receive a banner
notification when you next open the app, informing you of this account change. If you receive a
notification of a content violation or account ban and believe that it was done in error, then you can
appeal the decision. You can view the status of your appeal in the in-app Safety Center, as well as
the status of any reports you have filed about other content or accounts.
TikTok Platform Cookies Policy
Last Updated: 5 November 2020

This Cookies Policy applies whenever you see our Platform. “Platform” includes any services
provided by TikTok, including the advertiser and developer products available via TikTok For
Business and TikTok for Developers, with the exception of those described in our separate Website
Cookies Policy. Where we refer to “TikTok”, “we” or “us” in this Cookies Policy, we mean TikTok
Technology Limited, an Irish company, and TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited, a UK
company.
Like many websites and apps, our Platform uses cookies and other tracking technologies such as
software development kits (SDKs), pixels and local storage. These technologies allow us to store
information or gain access to information stored on your device to enable certain features and
distinguish your device from others. Tracking technologies are used by most apps to recognise that
a device is the same as one used previously and to understand some of its characteristics so that we
can serve you advertising, measure the performance of those ads, and to improve your experience.
This policy explains how we use these technologies, and the choices you have to control them.
Unless otherwise stated in this policy, our Privacy Policy applies to the data we collect.

1. What technologies are used?


Our Platform uses the following kinds of technologies:
Cookies: Cookies are small text files that enable us and our service providers and partners to
uniquely identify your browser or device for various purposes, including those described above.
Cookies normally work by assigning a unique number to your device and are stored on your
browser by the websites that you visit as well as third party service providers and partners to those
websites.
Cookies can remain on your computer or mobile device for different periods of time. Some cookies
are "session cookies", meaning that they exist only while your browser is open and are deleted
automatically once you close your browser. Session cookies cannot be used to track your browser or
device from website to website.
Other cookies are "persistent cookies", meaning that they survive after your browser is closed. Most
persistent cookies are set to automatically expire after a defined duration (for example, a few days,
weeks or months). When you return to that website (or visit other websites that use the same
cookies) the website provider or its service providers can recognise the persistent cookies they have
set and recognise your browsing device.
Local storage: Local storage files are created by apps and websites to store information locally on
your device. They are very similar to cookies, but can have slightly different properties (for
example, local storage can be used to store more information and can be stored in a different
location on your device to cookies). Local storage is normally used to speed up app and site
functionality and remember your preferences.
Application Programmable Interface (API): An API is a piece of software which helps two or more
applications to talk to one another. We use them to communicate between TikTok and our service
providers.
Software Development Kits (SDKs): SDKs are pieces of code that enable data to be collected about
your device, network and interaction with a website. Like cookies, they generally operate by
assigning your device a unique number.
Pixels: Pixels are small 1 pixel x 1 pixel invisible image files that are embedded in certain website
pages. They can be used to collect information about your visit to that website page.
When you open a website page with an embedded pixel, the page will automatically run simple
code that downloads the 1x1 image file to your device. At the same time, the code also passes
certain information about your device and your actions on the website. Your interest in the website
can then be logged and used for analytics or advertising purposes.
Mobile advertising IDs: Your device has a unique number used by TikTok and our service providers
to recognise your device. Where you have provided your consent, this allows personalised ads to be
delivered to your device and to measure the effectiveness of those ads. Learn more about how to
control your advertising ID.

2. Categories of tracking technologies


The types of tracking technologies used by us and our partners in connection with the provision of
the Platform can be classified into the following categories. Some of these categories are “essential”
to provide you with the services you have requested, such as to allow you to log into secure areas of
the Platform. The following is a list of of the categories of tracking technologies we use:
Identification and security: We recognise you when you return to our Platform to make sure that
you are the right user and to prevent activity that violates our policies.
For example, we check what country you are using the TikTok app from to detect if someone may
be trying to fraudulently access your account.
Content personalisation: We use these technologies to ensure that we can serve you with
personalised content.
For example, each User is given a unique TikTok ID number. We use this to provide you with
tailored content that will be of interest to you.
Remembering your preferences: We need to remember the settings you have chosen on the Platform
so that they work how you want them to.
For example, we use these technologies in order to remember what languages you want to see
content in, the privacy settings you apply to your account and/or videos and your Digital Wellbeing
choices.
Functionality: Functionality tracking technologies help to make the Platform work more efficiently
and to improve and optimize your experience.
For example, we determine which device you use, the software version and the screen dimensions
so that we can ensure the TikTok app functions correctly. We also determine whether your battery is
running low so that we can optimise the TikTok app and we make sure that content loads and plays
correctly.
Analytics: We use analytics tracking technologies to analyse how you use the Platform, including
which pages you view most often, how you interact with the content, measure any errors that occur
and test different design ideas. The information is used to report and evaluate your activities and
patterns as a user of the Platform.
For example, we may test new video creation features to help us decide which features users prefer.
Advertising and measurement: Our Platform uses advertising and measurement tracking
technologies. These tracking technologies help us and our advertisers show you relevant advertising
and measure the performance of ad campaigns. We also use these technologies to promote TikTok
on the other platforms and websites and measure their effectiveness.
For example, we will learn from our advertiser about whether you viewed their products or bought
something so we can learn how effective the ad was. If you’ve already shown interest in an ad, we
might show you it again, or we might limit the number of times we show it to you.

3. Do other parties use these technologies on our Platform?


Tracking technologies can either be “first-party” or “third-party”. First-party tracking technologies
refers to tracking technologies that we set and use directly. Third-party tracking technologies refer
to tracking technologies set by third parties (such as our analytics or advertising service providers).
Our partners may use these technologies on our Platform to help us and our advertisers understand
how effective their ads are and to compare this to their campaigns on other websites and apps. You
can find a list of these partners in the Cookies Partner List.

4. How can I control these technologies?


You can control how these technologies are used:
• Personalised Ads in the TikTok app. You are in full control of whether TikTok serves you
with personalised ads in the TikTok app. We do not serve personalised ads without your
consent. You can switch on personalised ads by clicking on “Me” in the TikTok app, visiting
the settings page by pressing on the three dots in the top right corner, then clicking on
“Personalization and data” then using the toggle. You can change this setting at any time.
• Advertising ID. You can tailor your device settings to control your advertising ID:
• On Apple devices, you can enable the “Limit Ad Tracking” setting in your device
settings.
• On Android devices, you can enable the “Opt out of Ads Personalization” in your
device settings.
• Partner opt-outs. Many of the partners we work with also provide opt-outs on their own
websites. You can find details of this in their own policies, which are linked to from our
Cookies Partner List.
As mentioned above, some uses of these technologies are essential for the functioning of the
Platform and so you cannot deactivate them.
5. Where can I find more information about these
technologies?
If you would like to find out more about these technologies, you may find the following links
useful:
• All about cookies
• EU Guide to Cookies
• Your Online Choices

6. Changes to this policy


We will occasionally update this policy to reflect changes in our practices. When we post changes to
this policy, we will revise the "Last Updated" date at the top of this policy. If we make any material
changes in the way we collect, use, and/or share information using these technologies, we will
notify you by prominently posting notice of the changes in places where you use the Platform. We
recommend that you check this page from time to time to inform yourself of any changes in this
policy.

7. Contact us
If you have any questions or comments about this policy, or privacy matters generally, contact us at:
https://www.tiktok.com/legal/report/privacy.

Cookie Partner List


This page lists the companies that use cookies and other technologies on our Platform. From time to
time, we may change the companies we work with to provide our Platform.
Last Updated: 5 November 2020

Analytics
Google Analytics for Firebase
Categories of Data: Device identifiers to collect and store information such as number of sessions
per user, session duration, operating system, device models, geography, first launches, and app
updates.
Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites

Advertising measurement
Adbrix Original
Categories of Data: IDFA / GAID, IP address, User Agent
Privacy Policy: http://www.igaworks.com/privacy?tf_lang=en
Adform
Categories of Data: IP address, User Agent, Cookie
Privacy Policy: https://site.adform.com/privacy-center/platform-privacy/product-and-services-
privacy-policy/
Adjust
Categories of Data: IDFA / GAID, IP address, User Agent
Privacy Policy: https://www.adjust.com/terms/privacy-policy/
AppMetrica
Categories of Data: IDFA / GAID, IP address, User Agent
Privacy Policy: https://appmetrica.yandex.com/about/privacy-policy
AppsFlyer
Categories of Data: IDFA / GAID, IP address, User Agent
Privacy Policy: https://www.appsflyer.com/services-privacy-policy/?utm_source=google
Branch
Categories of Data: IDFA / GAID, IP address, User Agent
Privacy Policy: https://branch.io/policies/#privacy
DoubleClick
Categories of Data: IP address, User Agent, Cookie
Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-US
FlashTalking
Categories of Data: IP address, User Agent, Cookie
Privacy Policy: https://www.flashtalking.com/privacypolicy
Kantar
Categories of Data: IP address, User Agent, Cookie
Privacy Policy: https://www.kantarmedia.com/uk/privacy-statement
Kochava
Categories of Data: IDFA / GAID, IP address, User Agent
Privacy Policy: https://www.kochava.com/support-privacy/
Moat by Oracle
Categories of Data: IP address, User Agent,
Privacy Policy: https://www.oracle.com/legal/privacy/
myTracker
Categories of Data: IDFA / GAID, IP address, User Agent
Privacy Policy: https://tracker.my.com/legal/privacy-policy
Nielsen
Categories of Data: IP address, User Agent,
Privacy Policy: https://www.nielsen.com/uk/en/legal/privacy-statement/digital-measurement/
Singular
Categories of Data: IDFA / GAID, IP address, User Agent
Privacy Policy: https://www.singular.net/privacy-policy/
Sizmek
Categories of Data: IP address, User Agent, Cookie
Privacy Policy: https://www.sizmek.com/privacy-policy/
Tenjin
Categories of Data: IDFA / GAID, IP address, User Agent
Privacy Policy: https://www.tenjin.io/privacy/

Login/Share
Apple
Categories of Data: Login event
Privacy Policy: https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/en-ww/
Facebook
Categories of Data: Login/share event
Privacy Policy: https://en-gb.facebook.com/policy.php
Twitter
Categories of Data: Login/share event
Privacy Policy: https://twitter.com/en/privacy

Others
Google Firebase Cloud Messaging
Categories of Data/Purpose: Collects Instance IDs to determine which device to send a message to
Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites
Google Pay
Categories of Data/Purpose: We use third-party services for payment processing.
We will not store or collect your card details. Information is provided directly to our third-party
payment processors who use your information in accordance with their Privacy Policy.
Privacy Policy: https://payments.google.com/payments/apis-secure/get_legal_document?
ldo=0&ldt=privacynotice&ldl=en-GB
Apple Pay
Categories of Data/Purpose: We will not store or collect your card details. Information is provided
directly to our third-party payment processors who use your information in accordance with their
Privacy Policy.
Privacy Policy: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210665
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Our approach to content moderation


Millions of people around the world come to TikTok to create, share, discover and connect, and
we’re committed to maintaining a safe, inclusive and authentic environment for our growing
community. More than 40,000 safety professionals are dedicated to keeping TikTok safe.
Setting the rules for a safe TikTok experience
Our Community Guidelines establish a set of norms and common code of conduct that help us
maintain a safe and inclusive environment for our community, where genuine interactions and
authentic content are encouraged. Our policies are developed by experts from a variety of
disciplines and we strive to enforce these rules equitably, consistently and fairly. We regularly
review and update our Community Guidelines to evolve alongside new behaviours and risks. Our
goal is to create a safe and entertaining experience for our diverse community.

Enforcing our Community Guidelines


To protect our community and platform, we remove content and accounts that violate our
Community Guidelines. Creators are notified with the removal reason and provided a way to appeal
the removal. Additionally, content we have deemed as not appropriate for a general audience over
age 13 is ineligible for recommendation into the For You feed. To enforce our Community
Guidelines effectively, we deploy a combination of technology and moderators.

Automated moderation technology


Videos uploaded to TikTok are initially reviewed by our automated moderation technology, which
aims to identify content that violates our Community Guidelines. These systems look at a variety of
signals across content, including keywords, images, titles, descriptions and audio. If no violation is
identified, it will be available to view on the platform. If a potential violation is found, the
automated moderation system will either pass it on to our safety teams for further review or remove
it automatically if there is a high degree of confidence that the content violates our Community
Guidelines. This automated removal is applied when violations are most clear-cut, such as nudity or
youth safety. We continue to invest in improving the precision of our automated moderation systems
so we can more effectively remove violative content at scale while also reducing the number of
incorrect removals; if users believe we have made a mistake, they can appeal the removal of their
content.

Content moderators
In order to support fair and consistent review of potentially violative content, moderators work
alongside our automated moderation systems and take into account additional context and nuance
which may not always be picked up by technology. We moderate content in more than 70
languages, with specialised moderation teams for complex issues, such as misinformation.
Human review also helps improve our automated moderation systems by providing feedback for the
underlying machine learning models to strengthen future detection capabilities. This continuous
improvement helps to reduce the volume of potentially distressing videos that moderators view and
enables them to focus more on content that requires a greater understanding of context and nuance.
The responsibilities of content moderators include:
• Reviewing content flagged by technology: When our automated moderation systems
identify potentially problematic content but cannot make an automated decision to remove
it, they send the content to our safety teams for further review. To support this work, we’ve
developed technology that can identify risky or suspicious items – for example, weapons –
in video frames, so that content moderators can carefully review the video and the context in
which it appears. This technology improves the efficiency of our moderators by helping
them more adeptly identify violative images or objects, quickly recognise violations, and
make decisions accordingly.
• Reviewing reports from our community: We offer our community easy-to-use in-app and
online reporting tools so they can flag any content or account they feel is in violation of our
Community Guidelines. While these reports are important, the vast majority of removed
content is identified proactively before it receives any views or is reported to us.
• Reviewing popular content: Harmful content has the potential to rapidly gain popularity
and pose a threat to our community. In order to reduce this risk, our automated moderation
systems may send videos with a high number of views to our content moderators for further
review against our Community Guidelines.
• Assessing appeals: If someone disagrees with our decision to remove their content or
account, they can file an appeal for reconsideration. These appeals will be sent to content
moderators to decide if the content should be allowed back onto the platform or the account
reinstated.

Promoting a caring working environment for trust and safety professionals


We strive to promote a caring working environment for employees, and trust and safety
professionals especially. We use an evidence-based approach to develop programs and resources
that support moderators’ psychological well-being.
Our primary focus is on preventative care measures to minimise the risk of psychological injury
through well-timed support, training and tools, from recruitment through to onboarding and
ongoing employment, that help foster resilience while minimising the risk of psychological injury.
These may include tools and features to allow employees to control exposure to graphic content
when reviewing or moderating content, including grayscaling, muting and blurring; training for
managers to help them identify when a team member may need additional well-being support; and
clinical and therapeutic support.
We also provide our trust and safety employees with membership to the Trust and Safety
Professional Association (TSPA). This membership allows them to access resources for career
development, participate in workshops and events, and connect with a network of peers across the
industry.

Partnering for success


We recognise that one of the best ways to protect our community is through ongoing conversation
and collaboration with a variety of experts and groups specialising in areas such as family safety,
wellness, digital literacy, fact-checking, misinformation, disinformation, and online security.
We have also established regional Safety Advisory Councils, which bring together independent
online safety experts to help us develop forward-looking Community Guidelines and features that
not only address the challenges of today but also prepare us to face future industry issues.
These critical partnerships help us improve how we enforce our Community Guidelines, enhance
our platform’s safety and privacy controls, and expand our educational resources, as we strive to
promote a safe, inclusive and authentic environment for our community.
Protecting teens online
Millions of people around the world come to TikTok to create, share, discover and connect, and
we’re committed to maintaining a safe, inclusive and authentic environment for our growing
community. More than 40,000 safety professionals are dedicated to keeping TikTok safe.

We are committed to creating a safe platform for our community, and believe this work is especially
important for our teenage members. People should be able to come to TikTok to express themselves
creatively and be entertained in a safe and inclusive environment. Our comprehensive approach to
teen safety includes zero-tolerance policies, innovative technologies, in-app features, and
educational resources. We also work collaboratively with industry partners, non-profits, academics,
and governments, to identify, implement, and share innovative solutions to better protect teens
online.

Combating child exploitation and abuse


TikTok has a zero-tolerance approach to content that violates our youth safety policies, especially
online child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) and the sharing of child sexual abuse material
(CSAM). Any content, including animation or digitally created or manipulated media, that depicts
abuse, harm, exploitation, or endangerment of minors is a violation of our Community Guidelines
and will be removed when detected.
To help identify CSAM, we use multiple technologies, including our own systems and hash-
matching software like Microsoft’s PhotoDNA, Google’s Content Safety API, and YouTube’s CSAI
Match. With our partners, we have built hash databases – hubs of unique digital codes that have
been linked to known CSAM. This means that should someone attempt to upload CSAM to TikTok
that matches a unique fingerprint from a database, or if we’ve identified new or suspected CSAM,
that content will be removed, reported to the International Center for Missing & Exploited Children
(ICMEC) and to relevant law enforcement authorities. The account that shared the content will also
be permanently banned.
At TikTok, we believe that collaboration is critical to solving today’s most pressing challenges,
including tackling CSAM. We work with leading youth safety organisations such as the Family
Online Safety Institute (FOSI), Technology Coalition, NCMEC, Internet Watch Foundation (IWF),
WePROTECT Global Alliance, and dedicated child safeguarding units in national and international
law enforcement agencies. These partnerships provide opportunities to collaborate, learn and share
best practices with our peers and to make critical progress toward our shared goal of ending online
child sexual abuse.

Designing age-appropriate experiences


We are committed to building age-appropriate experiences and controls that enable teens to have a
safe space to create, share, discover, and connect. We’re dedicated to partnering with families in this
work as we share their interests in supporting teens as they start to explore the online world
independently.

Promoting age-appropriate experiences


TikTok has a 12+ rating in the App Store and is listed as Parental Guidance Recommended in
Google’s Play Store. These ratings mean parents can use device-level controls to block their teen
from downloading the app. When someone is old enough to use our platform, to direct them to the
age-appropriate experience, we’ve designed a neutral, industry-standard age-gate. This requires
people to fill in their complete birthdate to discourage the clicking of a pre-populated minimum age.

Removing suspected underage accounts


While most people understand the importance of being truthful about their age, some do not provide
the correct information, which is a challenge many online services face. This is one reason why our
commitment to enforcing our minimum age requirements does not end at the age gate, and we take
a number of additional approaches to identify and remove suspected underage account holders. For
instance, we train our trust and safety team to be alert to signs that an account may belong to a
youth under the age of 13. We also use other information as provided by our users, such as
keywords and in-app reports from our community, to help detect potential underage accounts. When
our safety team believes that an account may belong to an underage person, we remove it from our
platform and may direct them to a more age-appropriate experience, if available in their region.
Information regarding removals of suspected underage accounts is shared as part of our
transparency reports.

Creating age-appropriate environments


At TikTok, we work to design tools and policies that promote a safe and age-appropriate experience
for teens 13-17. When younger teens start using TikTok, we intentionally restrict access to some
features, such as LIVE and Direct Messaging. We also automatically set accounts of users ages 13-
15 to private by default and do not recommend content created by accounts under age 16 in the For
You feed.
These are deliberate decisions we’ve taken to protect younger members of the community as they
start to build their online presence. We also aim to provide parents with resources they can use to
have conversations about digital safety and decide the most comfortable experience for their family,
including our Youth Portal, Guardian’s Guide to TikTok, in-app videos, and Family Pairing.
Family Pairing lets parents link their TikTok account to their teens to enable a variety of content and
privacy settings. We encourage caregivers to discuss the Family Pairing features with their teens
and explain why they choose to turn them on. Even without Family Pairing enabled, parents can
help their teens enable our app’s Screen Time offerings, including Daily Screen Time and Restricted
Mode, which are protected by a passcode set by the parent or guardian.
Further safeguarding the viewing experience through Content Levels
The goal of the For You feed is to provide original content that honours our mission of inspiring
creativity and bringing joy. We consider the breadth of our audience when we determine what
content is eligible for algorithmic promotion on the platform and our recommendation system is
designed with user safety as a primary consideration, meaning that some content is not eligible for
recommendation.
Our Content Levels system builds on these protections and is designed to prevent certain content
with more mature or complex themes from reaching audiences between ages 13-17. When we
detect that a video contains overtly mature or complex themes, for example, fictional scenes that
may be too frightening or intense for younger audiences, a content level will be allocated to the
video to help prevent those under 18 from viewing it across the TikTok experience.

Combatting hate and violent extremism


Millions of people around the world come to TikTok to create, share, discover and connect, and
we’re committed to maintaining a safe, inclusive and authentic environment for our growing
community. More than 40,000 safety professionals are dedicated to keeping TikTok safe.

TikTok thrives because of the diversity of our global community, and we aim to provide a safe
space where people feel welcomed and empowered to express themselves and connect with others.
That’s why we take a strong stance against attempts to promote violence or hateful behaviour on
TikTok.
As explained in our Community Guidelines, we do not allow people to use our platform to threaten
or incite violence, or to promote violent extremism. We do not tolerate discrimination: content that
contains hate speech or hateful behaviour has no place on TikTok.

How we identify hate and violent extremist content


To enforce our rules against violent extremism and hateful behaviour, we use a combination of
technology, safety experts and security professionals, alongside threat-detection partners.
• We use computer vision models to help detect visual signals, emblems, logos that are known
to be associated with extremist and hate groups, so that we can remove such content.
• We use text-based technologies, including keyword lists and natural language processing
(NLP), to detect language used to promote extremist ideologies or hate groups. This enables
us to find near or exact matches of terms such as slurs (or even emoji combinations) and to
remove them from comments, video captions, and profile descriptions.
• Where we have previously detected content that violates our policies on hate or extremism,
we use de-duplication and hashing technologies that enable us to recognise copies or near
copies of such content. We work with external groups, such as Tech Against Terrorism, who
help us to more quickly detect and remove hate or violent extremist content that has already
been identified off the platform.
• We also take measures to disrupt the discoverability of such content on the platform. One
way that we do this is by blocking searches for terms related to hateful keywords, or names
and organisations associated with hate and violent extremism.
• In limited emergency situations, we will disclose user information without legal process
when we have reason to believe, in good faith, that the disclosure of information is
necessary to prevent the imminent risk of death or serious physical injury to any person. For
more on our policies and practices, please see our Law Enforcement Data Request
Guidelines.

Operational expertise
We understand that violent extremism and hateful behaviour are complex and ever-evolving online
harms, which is why we continually look for how we can improve our policies and strengthen our
enforcement. This includes regularly training our content moderation teams to better detect
evolving hateful behaviour, symbols, terms, and offensive stereotypes. We also consult academics
and experts from across the globe to keep abreast of evolving trends and to help us regularly
evaluate our practices. We take into account publicly available information from organisations,
including the United Nations Security Council, to designate dangerous or hateful individuals and
organisations.

Empowering our community


With a diverse global community, we have a unique opportunity to encourage people to stand
together against those intent on spreading hate and extremism.
We work with organisations like the World Jewish Congress, GLAAD and others to develop
educational resources which celebrate the diversity of the TikTok community and help people build
an understanding of each other.
We also invest in helping people customise their TikTok experience with a range of tools, including
comment filters and ways to shape content recommendations, and produce guides to help our
community make the most of these features.

Engaging our Advisory Councils


At TikTok, we prioritize the safety and well-being of our community. As we work to provide a safe
and inclusive place for everyone, we actively seek input and advice from individual experts and
nonprofit organizations. Through ongoing engagement, we work to ensure our policies and
processes are informed by a diversity of perspectives, expertise, and lived experiences. By bringing
together different voices, we aim to create a safe platform for everyone, especially those who may
be more vulnerable to online harm.
TikTok’s Content and Safety Advisory Councils
Our Regional Safety Advisory Councils and U.S. Content Advisory Council bring together groups
of independent experts who help us develop forward-looking policies and processes that not only
address the challenges of today, but also plan ahead for the next set of issues that our industry will
face. These councils are an important way to bring outside perspectives into our company and onto
our platform.
Our council members represent a diverse array of backgrounds and perspectives, and are made up
of experts in youth safety, free expression, hate speech, and other safety topics. They work
collaboratively with us to inform and strengthen our policies, product features, and safety processes.
We have established six regional Safety Advisory Councils in Asia Pacific, Brazil, Europe, Latin
America, MENAT (Middle East, North Africa, Turkey), and a U.S. Content Advisory Council. We
aim to continue expanding our regional presence. Focusing on regions allows us to better
understand local challenges and trends and develop informed solutions that consider unique local
context and cultures. This commitment to localization enables us to create a more targeted,
responsive approach to safety and enables us to stay up-to-date with the latest developments in each
region.

Australia & New Zealand


• Hon. Pru Goward AO, Western Sydney University, (Australia)
• Crystal Abidin, Curtin University, Australia

Brazil
• Fabricio Benevenuto, Federal University of Minas Gerais
• Emiliano de Camargo David, AMMA Psique e Negritude Institute
• Clarissa Gross, Law Professor at Fundação Getulio Vargas and Coordinator of the Platform
for Freedom of Expression and Democracy
• Nina da Hora, Director of Da Hora Institute
• Isabela Kalil, São Paulo School of Sociology and Political Science
• Dr. Jadi Pedrosa, Pediatrician
• Carlos Affonso Souza, Institute for Technology & Society of Rio de Janeiro
• Fabiana Vasconcelos, Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis
• Kananda Eller, Content Creator Diversity, Science

Europe
• Seyi Akiwowo, Author, Founder and CEO of Glitch (United Kingdom)
• Justine Atlan, Association e-Enfance (France)
• Kristine Evertz, Senior Policy Advisor on Domestic Violence and Child Abuse (The
Netherlands)
• Maja Heban, Transgender Rights Activist (Poland)
• Alex Holmes, The Diana Award (United Kingdom)
• Judy Korn, Violence Prevention Network (Germany)
• Ian Power, SpunOut (Ireland)
• Joan Barata, Freedom of Expression Expert (Romania/Spain)
• Max Klymenko, Content Creator (United Kingdom/Ukraine)
Latin America
• Lionel Brossi, Artificial Intelligence and Society Hub at the Faculty of Communication and
Image, University of Chile (Chile)
• Daniela Calvillo, Fundación PAS / Te Protejo México (Mexico)
• Daniel Castaño, Mokzy / Externado University of Colombia (Colombia)
• Janvieve Williams Comrie, AfroResistance / New York University (Panama & USA)
• Angélica Contreras, Cultivando Género AC (Mexico)
• Carlos Cortés, Linterna Verde (Colombia)
• Eugenia Mitchelstein, University of San Andrés (Argentina)
• Mariana Ruenes, Sintrata AC (Mexico)
• Andrea Urbas, Asociación Chicos.net (Argentina)
• Juan Cristobal Concha, PrideMe (Chile)

Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey


• Sara Almohamadi, Researcher and Academic (Saudi Arabia)
• Dr. Hamed Mohamed Alneyadi, PhD, Senior IEEE, Board member of Emirates Safer
Internet Society -UAE, Board Member of the Arab Academics and Scientist Arab League,
President of Emirates Society of Public Administration in UAE (United Arab Emirates)
• Myriam Bahri, Sourire de Reda (Morocco)
• Dr. Naila Hamdy, School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the American University in
Cairo (Egypt)
• Akram Karameh, Online Safety Lebanon (Lebanon)
• Ohaila Shomar, Sawa Organization (Palestine)
• Dr. Akin Unver, Ozyegin University, Digital Democracy Network, Carnegie Endowment
for International Peace (Turkey)

Northeast Asia
• Seungwoo Son, Chung-Ang University (South Korea)
• Shinichi Yamaguchi, Centre for Global Communications, International University of Japan
(Japan)
• Young Sub Shim, Kyung Hee Cyber University (South Korea)
• Chisato Kitanaka, Hiroshima University (Japan)

South Asia
• Jehan Ara, Katalyst Labs (Pakistan)
• Dhananath Fernando, Advocata Institute (Sri Lanka)
• Kiran Chapagain, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Kathmandu Policy House (Nepal)
• Hera Hussain, Founder Chayn (Pakistan)
• Nobonita Chowdhury, Gender Expert and Equality Activist (Bangladesh)

Southeast Asia
• Yuhyun Park, DQ Institute (Singapore)
• Nguyen Phuong Linh, Management and Sustainable Development Institute (Vietnam)
• Anita A. Wahid, Masyarakat Anti Fitnah Indonesia (Indonesia)
• Jerald Joseph, Pusat Komas (Malaysia)
• Mona Magno-Veluz (Mighty Magulang), Autism Society (Philippines)
• Arthit Suriyawongkul, AI Ethics and Data Governance Researcher (Thailand)
• Vaorth Chotpitayasunondh, Thailand Institute for Mental Health Sustainability (Thailand)

United States
• Rob Atkinson, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
• Dorothy Espelage, University of North Carolina School of Education
• Mary Anne Franks, University of Miami Law School, Cyber Civil Rights Initiative
• Vicki Harrison, Stanford Psychiatry Center for Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing
• Mutale Nkonde, AI For the People
• Dawn Nunziato, George Washington University Law School
• David Ryan Polgar, All Tech Is Human
• Dan Schnur, University of Southern California Annenberg Center on Communication
Leadership & Policy

Combating misinformation
We believe that trust forms the foundation of our community, and we strive to keep TikTok a safe
and authentic space where genuine interactions and content can thrive. We do this by countering
misinformation and disinformation, and tackling deceptive behaviour that may cause harm to our
community or society at large.

We take action against misinformation that causes significant harm to individuals, our community,
or the larger public regardless of intent. We do this by removing content and accounts that violate
our rules, by investing in media literacy and connecting our community to authoritative
information, and by partnering with experts.

Reducing the spread of misinformation


Our Community Guidelines contain policies on removing harmful misinformation that could
mislead our community about civic processes, public health, or safety. For instance, we do not
allow medical misinformation about vaccines or abortion, and we do not allow misinformation
about voting.
Out of an abundance of caution, while content is being fact-checked or when content can’t be
substantiated through fact-checking, it may become ineligible for recommendation into For You
feeds, and may have a banner added to it to alert viewers. We will also prompt people to reconsider
sharing videos that have been found to contain unverified content. If fact-checkers determine
content to be false and we deem it to be in violation of our policies, we may remove the video from
our platform or make the video ineligible for recommendation into For You feeds.
To enforce our Community Guidelines at scale, we use a combination of technology and
moderation teams. While we continue to invest in improving our automated moderation systems,
assessing harmful misinformation requires additional context and assessment by our specialised
misinformation moderators who have enhanced training, expertise and tools to identify such
content, including direct access to our fact-checking partners.

Connecting our community to authoritative information


Providing access to authoritative information is an important part of our overall strategy to counter
misinformation. There are a number of ways in which we do this, including launching information
centres with informative resources from authoritative third-parties in response to global or local
events, adding public service announcements on hashtag or search pages, or labelling content
related to a certain topic to prompt our community to seek out authoritative information.
We also regularly engage with our regional Safety Advisory Councils, researchers, civil society
organisations, and media literacy experts. Not only does this collaboration help strengthen our
policies and overall knowledge of trends and issues, it also enables us to elevate reliable and
authoritative sources in our app.
For example, when the COVID-19 pandemic started, we partnered with organisations such as the
World Health Organisation and Team Halo to help ensure our community had easy access to
authoritative public health information. We also created a digital literacy hub in our app with
content aimed at equipping people with skills to evaluate content they consume, featuring resources
from experts at MediaWise and the National Association of Media Literacy Education (NAMLE).
We also invest in combatting content designed to mislead our community about elections. We work
with electoral commissions and civic society organisations to help ensure that we’re providing our
community with access to trustworthy and relevant information through in-app election centres,
search interventions, content labels and hashtag PSAs.

TikTok’s global fact-checking program


We recognise the impact misinformation can have in eroding trust in public health, electoral
processes, facts, and science. We are committed to being part of the solution. We treat
misinformation with the utmost seriousness and take a multi-pronged approach to stopping it from
spreading, including working with independent fact-checking organisations.
Since 2020, TikTok has partnered with global fact-checking organisations. We collaborate with 15
fact-checking organisations around the world that support more than 40 languages. All of TikTok’s
fact-checking partners are verified signatories of the International Fact-Checking Network’s (IFCN)
code of principles.
TikTok partners with the following organisations to assess misinformation: Agence France-Presse
(AFP), Animal Político, Australian Associated Press (AAP), Code for Africa, dpa Deutsche Presse-
Agentur, Estadão Verifica, Facta, Lead Stories, Logically, Newschecker, Newtral, PolitiFact,
Reuters, Science Feedback, and Teyit.
These partnerships enable TikTok to identify potential misinformation, take action on it, and share
accurate information with our community around important events. Our fact-checking partners do
not moderate content on our platform, but their assessments provide valuable input which helps us
take the appropriate action that upholds our Community Guidelines. In addition to reporting on and
assessing potential misinformation, TikTok partners with professional fact-checkers to improve our
detection and enforcement on misinformation through:
• a proactive detection program with our fact-checkers who flag new and evolving claims
they’re seeing across the internet. This allows us to look for these claims on our platform
and remove violations.
• a database of previously fact-checked claims to help misinformation moderators make swift
and accurate decisions.
More information about how TikTok partners with global fact-checking organisations here:
• An update on our work to counter misinformation
• Strengthening our commitment to transparency
• Our commitment to election integrity

Countering influence operations


We believe that trust forms the foundation of our community, and we strive to keep TikTok a safe
and authentic space where genuine interactions and content can thrive. We do this by countering
misinformation and disinformation, and tackling deceptive behaviour that may cause harm to our
community or society at large.

TikTok’s integrity and authenticity policies do not allow coordinated attempts to influence or sway
public opinion while also misleading individuals, our community, or our systems about an account’s
identity, approximate location, relationships, popularity, or purpose. When we investigate and
remove these operations, we focus on behaviour and assessing linkages between accounts and
techniques to determine if actors are engaging in a coordinated effort to mislead TikTok’s systems
or our community. In each case, we believe that the people behind these activities coordinate with
one another to misrepresent who they are and what they are doing.
We use several types of information (open-source and proprietary) to assess covert influence
operations. We leverage a standard framework of confidence assessment to help ensure we’re
making consistent and accurate determinations, which includes:
1. Evidence of coordination, such as evidence that accounts are working in coordination to
spread specific narratives, or are operated by the same person.
2. Evidence of misleading our systems or users, such as techniques that obfuscate the actual
location of an account, or that use fake personas to present themselves as someone they are
not.
3. Evidence of attempt to manipulate or corrupt public debate to effect decision making, beliefs
and opinions of our community.
We know that covert influence operations will continue to evolve in response to our detection and
networks may attempt to reestablish a presence on our platform, which is why we continually seek
to strengthen our policies and enforcement actions in order to protect our community against new
types of harmful misinformation and inauthentic behaviours.

Labelling state-affiliated media entities


We believe that trust forms the foundation of our community, and we strive to keep TikTok a safe
and authentic space where genuine interactions and content can thrive. We do this by countering
misinformation and disinformation, and tackling deceptive behaviour that may cause harm to our
community or society at large.

State-affiliated media are media organisations whose editorial output or decision-making process is
subject to control or influence by a government. For governments, politicians, and other centers of
power, it may be legitimate to use means of mass communication to reach out to and inform
citizens. However, when governments blur the dimensions of state communication with
independent journalism, individuals can lose important context about the source of the information
they receive. For this reason, we label the accounts and videos of media entities that we know to be
subject to editorial control or influence by state institutions.
We also recognise that this issue varies in the diverse countries we operate – and that people may
have different expectations of the relationship between governments and media based on the legal,
political, and cultural history of a nation. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to state-affiliated
media, and the nature of the topic will continue to evolve. This is why we consulted and researched
widely to develop our approach to state-affiliated media, and will continue to do so.
Our work, conducted in close collaboration with global media researchers, led to the development
of our state-controlled media label. We define state-controlled media as an entity where there is
evidence of clear editorial control and decision-making by members of the state.
We determine whether an organisation is subjected to editorial control or influence by a government
based on evidence collected by independent external experts. This includes information on the
media organisation’s sources of funding, corporate structures, objectives, and mission statement, as
well as ownership, editorial guidelines, editorial staff and leadership, and governance.
In making our determination, we primarily focus on evidence of state control or influence over the
editorial content or decision-making of a media entity. We evaluate whether the entity has sufficient
safeguards to ensure editorial independence and consider different types of government influence
ranging from control or influence over content production or distribution, to legally determined
editorial control by government. We also consider evidence of resistance by the entity to state
influence.
While government funding or ownership is not determinative of state control or influence, we do
apply additional scrutiny to organisations that are significantly financed or managed by state actors.
For example, public service broadcasters with robust and transparent protections separating editorial
decision-making from state funding are not subject to labelling as state-affiliated media. In
evaluating state ownership and funding, we consider government funding including loans,
subsidies, and economic dependence on advertising.
We also recognise that cultural, legal, and political contexts play an important role in determining
whether an entity is state-affiliated. In environments where legal and political pressure on
independent media is high, we may lean toward not labeling outlets that have shown resistance to
promoting government messages. We also review the environment in which media organisations
operate and consider, among other things, global freedom indices by reputable organisations,
national laws ensuring freedom of expression, and media regulation.

Questions we ask ourselves when evaluating media entities:


• Is editorial independence part of the organisation’s mission statement?
• Are there mechanisms in place that sufficiently isolate government funding from editorial
decision-making?
• Is the organisation sufficiently transparent about any direct or indirect government funding?
• Does the organisation have a set of guidelines related to standards of journalistic conduct?
• Are there any state affiliations within editorial leadership positions?
• Has the organisation transparently disclosed any state affiliations?
• Is there evidence of the media outlet not upholding its editorial mission statement?
• How has the entity handled issues of significant public interest regarding the government?
• Is there evidence of government attacks on the organisation, its editorial leadership or
reportorial staff?
• Is there evidence of the organisation contesting decisions of the state in the courts?
If a media entity believes it has been incorrectly labelled, it can appeal by providing evidence of
editorial protections from state interference and evidence that these are in force. We will evaluate
the evidence provided by the media entity, invite input from our experts, and make a determination
as to whether to remove or retain the label.
State-controlled media labels are currently available for state-affiliated media in: Afghanistan,
Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mongolia, Netherlands, Poland,
Portugal, Republic of Cyprus, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain,
Sweden, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan.

Strengthening security and privacy


At TikTok, we take pride in our security and privacy programs. Our teams work on tough
challenges daily and come to TikTok with diverse backgrounds from a number of different sectors,
including: law enforcement, banking, technology, and entertainment. Check out below some
features of our security and privacy strategy, programs, and approach:
Cyber threat detection and response
TikTok’s Global Security Organisation operates a ‘follow the sun’ approach to cyber threat
detection and response that enables our teams around the world to stay ahead of emerging risks and
threats to our users and the platform. Since early 2021, we’ve been building monitoring, response,
and investigative capabilities to detect and respond to critical cyber incidents in real-time in
Singapore, Dublin, and Washington D.C. Our cyber threat detection and response capabilities
provide enterprise readiness and response through state-of-the-art monitoring and intel capabilities
merged with best-in-class cybersecurity response and incident management teams.

HackerOne bug bounty program


It’s not enough to build good security – we have to test it, validate it, and work with our partners to
address the entirety of the threat surface we face every day. That’s why we partner with industry
leaders like HackerOne, launching our Global Bug Bounty program to encourage and reward ethical
hackers for responsibly identifying and disclosing vulnerabilities so we can quickly address them.
In 2022, TikTok became a founding sponsor of the Corporate Security Responsibility (CSecR)
pledge, which honors transparency, collaboration, innovation, and differentiation as core principles
to help create a safer digital world for everyone.

Security and privacy offensive and defensive testing program


In the spirit of testing and improving our security and privacy capabilties against the ever-evolving
threat landscape, we have employees whose job it is to find and test for vulnerabilities to improve
the company’s defensive capabilities against advanced threat actors. A common industry practice,
this team plays the role of an offensive adversary, trying to attack and “break in” to our systems in
order to discover gaps in our defensive capabilities and facilitate the deployment of necessary
improvements.
Within this program, multiple cross-functional teams across the company work closely together,
constantly raising the bar and making sure that together we always provide best-in-class security
and privacy for our community.

Data sovereignty
We believe in protecting the data of people all over the world who use TikTok, as they learn, laugh,
or discover something new. We are committed to prioritise data protection and security and
addressing data sovereignty requirements where they exist. In Europe, we are continuing to make
progress on our data centre operations in Ireland, which will store TikTok UK and EEA user data to
keep data flows outside of Europe to a minimum.

Privacy by design
Our team is committed to principles of Privacy by Design, where privacy protections are
incorporated throughout the lifecycle of our products, processes, and strategic initiatives. All
employees are responsible for proactively integrating privacy principles, processes, and protections
into every part of the product and system lifecycle, from design and development to ongoing
operation and maintenance.
Secure software development life cycle
We’re always trying to improve the TikTok experience for our community. Before each and every
new feature or platform enhancement is introduced, it goes though a rigorous security review
process to ensure we minimise the risk of introducing new vulnerabilities as much as possible. Our
Security Engineers are deeply involved in the product development lifecycle, analysing
requirements and technical designs of every new change, ensuring that security is one of the key
factors being considered from the project inception, reviewing the actual implementation, and
performing the necessary testing before the feature or product is actually released to our
community. Making security an inherent part of the development process is one of the most
important industry practices and our talented product security team excels at doing it.

Introduction to the TikTok recommendation


system

How TikTok’s For You feed works


When you interact with content on TikTok, you provide us with a variety of signals. These signals
assist our recommendation system in understanding the type of content you might enjoy. We use
these signals to create a prediction score for different videos. This score is an estimate of how likely
you are to interact with each of those videos. Videos with the highest score are selected to be served
to your For You feed. Below is a snapshot of the factors that shape what you see in your feed.

Signals from you


The signals you provide when you engage with content on TikTok encompass a range of
interactions, such as the videos you have viewed, liked, or shared. By interacting with content on
TikTok, you inform the system about the content you might find relevant and useful, helping shape
your unique For You feed experience.
See the appendix for examples of key signals utilized in the recommendation system.

Predictions
The recommendation system uses the signals you provide to predict which content you’re likely to
enjoy. These predictions estimate the likelihood you will interact with a given video, for example,
the probability of liking, sharing, commenting, or skipping a given video. By combining prediction
scores for each of these interactions, we can arrive at an overall score for each video, with higher
scores signifying a closer match to your preferences.
See the appendix for examples of the recommendation system’s key predictions.
Ranking
The ranking process sorts videos by their prediction scores, from high to low. Your For You feed is
created from these top-ranked videos, provided they pass a final similarity check before being
recommended.

Similarity check
Content similarity measures how different consecutive videos in your For You feed are. If some of
the videos that the system has chosen as top-ranked for you are too similar to each other, we replace
them with others to ensure a greater variety in the content you see. These efforts aim to reduce the
chance of you viewing videos with repetitive themes and help you instead explore and discover
different types of content.

Building for safety in the recommendation system


Community Guidelines
Our Community Guidelines set the rules that determine which types of content are not allowed on
the platform. They also outline the categories of content that are not eligible for recommendation in
the For You feed, which is an experience intended for a range of audiences, from teenagers to great
grandparents. We deploy a mix of machine learning models and human reviews to enforce our
Community Guidelines. If you come across a video you think goes against our rules, you can long-
press on the video and select ‘Report’ from the pop-up menu to send send the video to our
moderation team for review.

Youth safety
We prioritize safety so that we can provide teens on our platform with an age-appropriate TikTok
experience. We recognize that while the vast breadth of content that is shared on TikTok adds to the
rich diversity of the experience, not all of it may be suitable for younger audiences. We limit overtly
mature content so it is not available anywhere on TikTok for accounts aged 13-17, and only
viewable by adults 18 years and older. In addition, any content created by an account aged under 16
is not eligible for recommendation to the FYF.

Prioritizing safety when recommending content


While the recommendation system predicts what content you’re likely to enjoy, the moderation
rules aim to ensure that this content adheres to our Community Guidelines. The result is a For You
feed that reflects your individual interests while prioritizing safety.
• Our moderation system works to remove violative content and make content that is not
suitable for a broad audience ineligible for recommendation. Only videos that pass
moderation are included in the pool of videos that can be recommended to our community in
the For You feed.
• Using the prediction scores, the recommendation system picks from the approved videos
those we believe you are likely to enjoy.

How you can influence your For You feed


Aside from the signals you provide by how you interact with content on TikTok, there are additional
tools we have built to help you better control what kind of content is recommended to you.
• Not interested: You can long-press on the video in your For You feed and select ‘Not
interested’ from the pop-up menu. This will let us know you are not interested in this type of
content and we will limit how much of that content we recommend in your feed.
• Video keyword filters: You can add keywords – both words or hashtags – you’d like to
filter from your For You feed.
• For You refresh: To help you discover new content, you can refresh your For You feed,
enabling you to explore entirely new sides of TikTok.

Appendix
This non-exhaustive list offers insight about the variety of signals and interactions the system
utilizes to deliver personalized content to your FYF. The signals that serve as input to our system
are dynamic and constantly updated to encourage evolving interests and a thriving ecosystem. If
you are interested in learning more, head to our Help Center to view up-to-date information on how
TikTok recommends content.
TikTok personalizes your For You feed based on various factors, including:
• Your region, aligning recommendations to local standards and cultural norms.
• The language your device is set to.
• Your device’s operating system.
• Videos you’ve recently interacted with, including those you watched, finished, liked, or
skipped.
• Your follow relationships with other people on TikTok.
The system predicts a variety of interactions, including your likelihood to:
• Like, share, comment on, or mark a video as ‘Not Interested.’
• Follow the video’s author or interact with their profile.
• Finish, skip, or favorite a video.
• Spend a certain amount of time viewing a video.
• Tap the video’s soundtrack.
In addition to signals you create by interacting with content, we also take into account various
signals about the video, including:
• The time the video was posted.
• The region the video was posted from.
• The language setting of the video’s author.
• The video’s soundtrack.
• The length of the video.
• The hashtags associated with the video.

Upholding human rights


Technology is an essential gateway to the exercise of human rights. TikTok touches more than 1
billion people across the globe. We are committed to respecting the human rights of all people
impacted by our platform, regardless of their ethnicity, orientation, background, or life experience.
As a global entertainment company, TikTok has a responsibility to ensure that our community is
treated with fundamental dignity and respect on our platform.

Our commitment to human rights


Responsibility for upholding human rights is shared: while governments have a duty to protect
human rights, TikTok and other businesses also have a responsibility to respect those human rights.
Respecting human rights is essential for TikTok to build and sustain trust among our employees,
users, creators, advertisers, and others who are part of our community and who we engage with as a
business.
Our philosophy is informed by, and we are committed to, several international human rights
frameworks, including (1) the International Bill of Human Rights (which includes the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights [UDHR], the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
[ICCPR], and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights [ICESCR]), (2)
the International Labour Organization [ILO] Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at
Work, (3) the Convention on the Rights of the Child [CRC], and (4) the United Nations Guiding
Principles on Business and Human Rights [UNGPs].
As part of our commitment, we will strive to respect human rights throughout our business and in
our business relationships whilst also complying with applicable laws and regulations intended to
promote human rights where we conduct business globally. We will continuously evaluate our
operations to identify, assess, and address salient human rights risks, engage key stakeholders and
rights holders, and prioritise areas where we have the greatest opportunity to have a positive impact.
Operating as a global company obliges us to recognise and abide by local laws in the countries
where we operate. In some situations, local laws may conflict with international human rights
standards. In these cases, our commitment to human rights remains and we seek to uphold our
users’ rights to free expression and privacy. To do this, we assess the validity of the government
request, and interpret it as narrowly as possible. In cases where we believe this is insufficient to
respect our users’ rights, we will explore legal means to push back against requests that may
undermine international law and international human rights standards.

European Economic Area (EEA) – Code of


Practice on Disinformation

Learn more about our work as signatory to the Code of


Practice on Disinformation and how we strive to promote
authentic online experiences for our community.
About the Code
The Code of Practice on Disinformation (the ‘Code’) is a significant step forward for the industry,
taking an innovative approach to combat disinformation by bringing together major online
platforms, emerging and specialised platforms, advertising industry participants, fact-checkers and
researchers.
Signatories to the Code undertake to deliver against a range of commitments across different issues
related to online misinformation, including:
• Demonetisation of disinformation
• Transparency of Political Advertising
• Integrity of Services
• Empowering Users
• Empowering Researchers
• Empowering the Fact-Checking Community
We’re proud to have played a part in the co-regulatory process to draft the strengthened Code of
Practice on Disinformation, building on our work as a signatory to the previous Code. We will
continue to invest extensively as we work together with others to combat disinformation, promote
authentic online experiences for our communities, and meet our obligations as a responsible and
trusted platform.

Reports
As part of our commitments to the Code, we will publish a transparency report every six months to
provide granular data for EU/EEA countries about our efforts to combat online misinformation.
These reports are available here, as well as on a separate transparency centre, alongside reports
from other platforms.

European Union (EU) – Monthly Active


Recipients Report

Information about TikTok’s Monthly Active Recipients number for the


European Union

In accordance with our obligations under the Digital Services Act (Article 24(2)), TikTok
Technology Limited reports that it had on average 134 million ‘monthly active recipients’ in the
European Union member state countries between February 2023 and July 2023.
We have produced this calculation for the purposes of complying with our DSA requirements and it
should not be relied on for other purposes. Where we have shared user metrics in other contexts, the
methodology and scope may have differed.
Our approach to producing this calculation may evolve or may require altering over time, for
example, because of product changes or new technologies.
EU Terrorist Content Online Regulation (EU)
2021/784 Transparency Report
7 June, 2022 – 31 December, 2022
Published February, 2023

About this report


This report is published by TikTok Technology Limited (hereafter “TikTok”) under the EU
Terrorist Content Online Regulation (EU) 2021/784 (“TCO Regulation”).

A. Combatting violent extremism


TikTok takes an uncompromising stance against enabling violent extremism on or off our platform.
Our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy to people, and any attempt to promote violence
runs counter to that mission and our values. TikTok thrives because of the diversity of our global
community, and we aim to provide a safe space where people feel welcomed and empowered to
express themselves and connect with others. That’s why we take a strong stance against attempts to
promote violence or hateful behaviour on TikTok.
Terrorist content has no place on TikTok, and we will remove any content – including video, audio,
livestream, images, comments, links, or other text – that violates our Community Guidelines. When
there is a threat to public safety or an account is used to promote or glorify off-platform violence,
we ban the account.

B. Information about TikTok’s measures to tackle terrorist content


1. How we define violent extremist content
As explained in our Community Guidelines, we do not allow people to use our platform to threaten
or incite violence, or to promote violent extremism.
Threats and incitement to violence
We consider incitement to violence as advocating for, directing, or encouraging other people to
commit violence. We do not allow threats of violence or incitement to violence on our platform that
may result in serious physical harm. This includes but is not limited to
• Statements of intent to inflict physical injuries on an individual or a group
• Statements or imagery that encourage others to commit or that advocate for violence
• Conditional or aspirational statements that encourage other people to commit violence
• Calls to bring weapons to a location with the intent to intimidate or threaten an individual or
group with violence
• Instructions on how to make or use weapons that may incite violence
Violent extremist organisations and individuals
We do not allow organisations or individuals on our platform who promote or engage in violence,
including terrorist organisations, organised hate groups, criminal organisations, and other non-state
armed groups that target civilians:
• We define terrorists and terrorist organisations as non-state actors that threaten violence, use
violence, and/or commit serious crimes (such as crimes against humanity) against civilian
populations in pursuit of political, religious, ethnic, or ideological objectives.
• We use the term “organised hate” to refer to those individuals and organisations who attack
people based on protected attributes, such as race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, caste,
sexual orientation, sex, gender, gender identity, or immigration status. We consider attacks to
include actions that incite violence or hatred, that aim to dehumanize individuals or groups,
or that embrace a hateful ideology.
• We define criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groups that have
engaged in serious crimes, including violent crimes (e.g., homicide, rape, robbery, assault),
trafficking (e.g., human, organ, drug, weapons), kidnapping, financial crimes (e.g., extortion,
blackmail, fraud, money laundering), or cybercrime.
This includes but is not limited to:
• Content that praises, promotes, glorifies, or supports violent acts or extremist organizations
or individuals
• Content that encourages participation in, or intends to recruit individuals to, violent
extremist organisations
• Content with names, symbols, logos, flags, slogans, uniforms, gestures, salutes, illustrations,
portraits, songs, music, lyrics, or other objects meant to represent violent extremist
organisations or individuals

2. How we identify violent extremist content


To enforce our rules against violent extremism, we use a combination of technology, safety experts
and security professionals, alongside threat-detection partners.
• We use computer vision models to help detect visual signals, emblems, logos that are known
to be associated with extremist and hate groups, so that we can remove such content.
• We use text-based technologies, including keyword lists and natural language processing
(NLP), to detect language used to promote extremist ideologies or hate groups. This enables
us to find near or exact matches of terms such as slurs (or even emoji combinations) and to
remove them from comments, video captions, and profile descriptions.
• Where we have previously detected content that violates our policies on hate or extremism,
we use de-duplication and hashing technologies that enable us to recognize copies or near
copies of such content. We work with external groups, such as Tech Against Terrorism, who
help us to more quickly detect and remove hate or violent extremist content that has already
been identified off the platform.
• We also take measures to disrupt the discoverability of such content on the platform. One
way that we do this is by blocking searches for terms related to hateful keywords, or names
and organisations associated with hate and violent extremism.
• In limited emergency situations, we will disclose user information when we have reason to
believe, in good faith, that the disclosure of information is necessary to prevent the
imminent risk of death or serious physical injury to any person. For more on our policies and
practices, please see our TikTok Law Enforcement Guidelines.
In addition, we encourage our community members to use the tools we provide on our platform to
report any content or account they believe violates our Community Guidelines, which includes our
policies on violent extremist content as outlined above. In Germany, Austria and France we have
introduced content reporting mechanisms that enable users to report certain content to us alleging
violations of local laws (which includes certain local criminal law provisions related to terrorist
content). For example: In Germany users can report certain content to us alleging violations such
Sections 129a (Forming terrorist organisations) and 129b (Foreign criminal and terrorist
organisations) of Germany’s Criminal Code.

3. Operational expertise
We understand that violent extremism and hateful behaviour are complex and ever-evolving online
harms, which is why we continually look for how we can improve our policies and strengthen our
enforcement. This includes regularly training for our content moderation teams to better detect
evolving hateful behaviour, symbols, terms, and offensive stereotypes. We also consult academics
and experts from across the globe to keep abreast of evolving trends and to help us regularly
evaluate our practices. We take into account publicly available information from organisations,
including the United Nations Security Council and the European Union, to designate dangerous or
hateful individuals and organisations, including terrorist groups.

4. Standing together against violent extremism


At TikTok, we believe that collaboration is critical to solving today’s most pressing challenges,
including violent extremism. We are proud to be members of Tech Against Terrorism, which brings
together technology companies, civil society, and academics over the shared goal of countering
violent extremism. Coming together with others in the industry reflects our desire to engage with
the wider community of experts in a responsible way. Our aim is to help eradicate terrorist content
online and share learnings with others along the way.

C. Numbers relating to removal of terrorist content


The numbers below cover the reporting period: 7 June, 2022 – 31 December, 2022.

1. Orders from competent authorities


TikTok did not receive any removal orders from competent authorities under the TCO Regulation.

2. Community Guidelines and local law violations


Below are the numbers for the items of terrorist content removed by TikTok for violations of our
Community Guidelines on violent extremism relating to terrorist content. The numbers in brackets
indicate the items of terrorist content removed and/or in relation to which access was disabled for
violations of local laws relating to violent extremism in Germany (Sections 129a and 129b of the
German Criminal Code), Austria (Sections 278b, 278f and § 282a of the Austrian Criminal Code),
and France (Section 421-2-5 of the French Criminal Code):

Total number of removals Number of user Number of appeals where content was
(restrictions) appeals reinstated
53385 (3746) 11816 (975) 6153 (244)
*The numbers in brackets are a subset of the total number and included for reference only.
Contact points

Contact us
Users
As provider of the TikTok platform, TikTok Technology Limited (“TikTok”) has designated a single
point of contact (email us at -DSA-single-point-of-contact-users@TikTok.com) for users for the
purposes of the Digital Services Act (DSA).
To get help with your concern in the quickest way, below are some helpful resources.
• Our Help Center has instructions about how to use certain platform features and how you
can report a problem.
• If you would like to provide feedback that you have about your experience with TikTok, you
can use our feedback form.
• If you are a European user choosing to report illegal content, you can learn more about how
to use our reporting illegal content mechanism here.

Authorities
TikTok has designated a single point of contact (email us at DSA-single-point-of-contact-
authorities@TikTok.com) for member states’ authorities, the European Commission, and the
European Board for Digital Services to contact us for the purposes of the DSA
• For member states’ authorities, seeking to submit an order directing TikTok to act against
illegal content, please reach out to the dedicated channels you have been provided with.
Please ensure all requests meet the requirements of Article 9(2) of the DSA.
• For member states’ authorities, seeking to submit an order to provide information, click here.
Please ensure all requests meet the requirements of Article 10(2) of the DSA. Please also
refer to TikTok’s Law Enforcement Guidelines before submitting the order.
Please ensure all requests are made in English (or, at a minimum, an English translation is
provided).

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