Blog

Published: August 14, 2025
Effective: September 13, 2025

Announcement made by TikTok’s Safety and Outreach Teams.

TikTok is committed to ensuring its platform remains safe, inclusive, and trustworthy for all users. As part of this commitment, we are introducing a series of updates to our Community Guidelines to better address emerging risks, improve transparency, and align with our core values. 

These updates reflect our ongoing efforts to mitigate both new and existing threats to user safety, while making our policies clearer and easier to understand. 

New Policies to Address Harmful Behaviour 

We are introducing four new policies designed to tackle specific areas of concern: 

1. Off-Platform Conduct

Accounts created, operated, or used by individuals or organizations involved in highly harmful behaviour outside TikTok will be permanently banned. This ensures that our platform does not amplify or legitimize dangerous actors. 

2. Viral Misinformation

We are expanding our misinformation policy to include highly viral false or misleading content beyond civic, science, and public safety topics. This content will be de-amplified to reduce its reach and impact. 

3. Paid Political Content

To enhance transparency, we will prohibit the recommendation of political content that appears to be paid, even if it does not meet the full criteria of paid political advertising. 

4. Distracted Driving

We are tightening restrictions on content showing distracted driving, especially on LIVE streams, due to the heightened risks associated with real-time interaction and prolonged streaming. 

Clarifications to Existing Policies 

We’ve also refined several existing policies to improve clarity and enforcement: 

1. Adult and Youth Victim Disclosure

Survivors of abuse or exploitation may share their experiences, provided the content does not depict or promote abuse. 

2. Regulated Goods and Services

We’ve consolidated policies on gambling, alcohol, tobacco, drugs, firearms, and other regulated goods into a single section for easier navigation and understanding. 

3. Weight Loss

Marketing of approved weight loss products may be permitted, with added safeguards to protect users from harmful or misleading claims. 

4. Bullying

Certain bullying-related content has been reclassified from “Removed” to “Not Recommended” to reflect its lower level of harm and address past enforcement inconsistencies. 

 Expanded Enforcement and Transparency 

We are enhancing the Accounts and Features section to better reflect nuanced enforcement across different product areas. This includes: 

• Additional disclosures for localized enforcement. 

• Clearer requirements for monetized accounts. 

Why These Changes Matter 

Our key motivations for this update include: 

• Addressing Emerging Risks: We continuously evolve our guidelines to stay ahead of new challenges. 

• Enhancing Transparency: Clearer rules and enforcement standards help build trust. 

• Simplifying Language: Easier-to-understand guidelines improve user comprehension. 

• Aligning with Internal Policies: Ensures consistency between public and internal standards. 

• Improving Accessibility: Better formatting and navigation make our guidelines more user-friendly. 

 Looking Ahead 

These updates will go live on September 13, 2025, and we encourage all users to review the new guidelines to understand how they may be affected. TikTok remains dedicated to cultivating a safe and supportive environment for creativity, connection, and expression. 

For more details, visit our Community Guidelines page.