Updates to TikTok's Community Guidelines

TikTok has announced updates to its Community Guidelines, which serve as the rules and standards for being a part of the TikTok community. These guidelines apply to everyone and everything on the platform.

Community Principles

For the first time, TikTok is sharing its Community Principles to provide insight into the decision-making process and how safety and trust are prioritized. These principles are rooted in the commitment to upholding human rights and are aligned with international legal frameworks. They guide content moderation decisions, aiming to be fair, protect human dignity, and strike a balance between freedom of expression and preventing harm.

Key Changes

Some key changes in the updated Community Guidelines include:

Advancements in rules for synthetic media, which refers to content created or modified by AI technology.
Adding 'tribe' as a protected attribute in hate speech and hateful behavior policies.
Providing more detail about efforts to protect civic and election integrity, including the approach to government, politician, and political party accounts.

These updated Community Guidelines will go into effect on April 21st. Additional training will be provided to moderators to ensure effective enforcement of the rules and standards.

Consolidation of Rules and Standards

All the rules and standards have been consolidated in one place to make it easier for creators and researchers to access the information they need. The rules have been reorganized thematically into different topic areas. For each topic, a brief explanation of what is not allowed is provided, followed by more detailed information, including definitions and the range of actions that may be taken. The four pillars of the moderation approach are outlined:

Removing content that violates the guidelines.
Age-restricting mature content to be viewed only by adults (18 years or older).
Excluding inappropriate content from the For You feed, ensuring it is not recommended to a broad audience.
Empowering the community with information, tools, and resources to maintain control over their experience.

Enforcement Strategy

The update to the Community Guidelines also expands on the enforcement strategy by:

Sharing more information about the actions taken against accounts that violate the rules, including the use of multiple accounts to intentionally bypass the rules or enforcement.
Explaining the considerations taken into account when enforcing the rules based on public interests and the approach to content that critiques public figures.
Providing more detail on the use of informational labels, warnings, and opt-in screens.

TikTok is proud to share these refreshed Community Guidelines, offering the community greater transparency regarding the rules and enforcement practices. The platform remains committed to investing in efforts to maintain TikTok as a safe, inclusive, and authentic home for the global community.