TikTok Shadowban: What It Is and How to Avoid One

What Causes a TikTok Shadowban?

Much like in baseball, there are a set of rules and regulations you must follow in order to play ball (and win big) on TikTok.

Enter: TikTok’s community guidelines.

And while TikTok has yet to issue an official statement using the term “shadowban”, we have it on good authority that violating the app’s guidelines may land you in the outfield. 

According to the platform, “We will temporarily or permanently ban accounts and/or users that are involved in severe or repeated on-platform violations [of our Community Guidelines].”

From offensive language to violent or graphic content, there are a number of reasons why TikTok can choose to silently restrict your account. 

The most common reasons include:

• Spam behavior

• Hate speech

• Fake news

• Violence

• Nudity

• Drugs

• Copyrighted music

TikTok relies heavily on automated moderation to check if videos violate community guidelines. Also, if viewers “Report” a video, this could also trigger a shadowban.

However, TikTok doesn’t always get it right when it comes to mass moderation.

In an NBC News article, Jewish creators expressed that, “the app is subjecting them to a type of censorship by regularly flagging and removing their content.”

Creators said that TikTok flagged videos that were debunking antisemitic comments as “violating community guidelines.” 

This is often a challenge when it comes to mass, automated moderation. Using technology to protect a community from hate speech can easily turn into censorship — minimizing voices of communities rather than amplifying them.