This quarterly report provides transparency into the content and accounts removed during the reporting period, for violating the platform’s Community Guidelines.

The report reveals that over 2.1 million videos were removed from TikTok in Nigeria, which is less than 1% of the total videos uploaded in the country in the latest reporting period, as the platform continues to strengthen its content moderation systems to safeguard its diverse community.

Key findings show that 99.1% of these videos were proactively removed before users reported them, with 90.7% taken down within 24 hours.

These figures highlight TikTok’s commitment to staying ahead of harmful content, ensuring a safer platform for Nigerian users.

With over a billion people and millions of pieces of content posted every day, TikTok continues to invest in technologies which improve content understanding and assess potential risks, allowing the platform to remove harmful content before it reaches viewers.

In June 2024, the platform removed over 178 million videos and of these, 144 million were removed through automation globally.

These technical advancements reduce the volume of content that moderators review, helping minimise human exposure to violative content.

With a proactive detection rate now at 98.2% globally , TikTok is more efficient than ever at addressing harmful content before users encounter it.

As TikTok continues to invest in cutting-edge moderation technologies, its commitment to transparency and platform safety remains at the forefront, ensuring a secure environment for its diverse user base across Nigeria and globally.

The full report can be accessed here.

In this piece, Techeconomy highlights the Frequently Asked Questions (FQAs) about TikTok Community Guidelines Community Guidelines:

General FAQs

• Have you consulted external experts on these changed CG’s? If so, how many and are you willing to share their geographical spread?
• More than 100 experts consulted globally, including our safety advisory councils.
• Why do you have quality assurance on content moderation for just some accounts?
• Moderating content at this scale is complex, which is why we make it easy for any creator to appeal content moderation decisions if they believe we got it wrong. These appeals are reviewed by our moderation teams, and we reinstate content if we find that the original moderation decision was not correct.
• Which accounts does quality assurance apply to?
• These are accounts that have gone through additional validation processes, such as some types of verified accounts.

Warning strike

• Is this already launched?
• Yes, globally.
• Does the warning strike apply to all violations?
• Only for less severe violations. A severe violation of a zero-tolerance policy, including promoting or threatening violence, showing or facilitating child sexual abuse material (CSAM), or showing real-world violence or torture, will still result in an immediate permanent ban.
• Does the warning strike work across all features – eg, LIVE, comment etc?
• Yes, it will work across all features covered by our account strike system.
• Can a warning be appealed?
• Yes, a creator can appeal the content moderation decision that led to the warning strike. If the appeal is successful, the warning will be removed.
• The creator would then be eligible for another warning strike for a future violation.
• How does the appeal process work?
• When you appeal, it will be reviewed by our teams. If it’s successful, the warning will be repealed and your content restored. The account will be eligible for another warning if the first one was repealed.
• Will earnings from when my video received a warning strike be restored?
• Warning strikes do not have an impact on account status and earnings.
• How many appeals can you request?
• You can only appeal once.
• Will warnings/appeals impact my views? What if they are wrongly labeled?
• If you’ve received a warning, it’s because we have removed one of your videos for violating our rules.
• This should not affect other content you have posted.
• If you don’t believe your video was violent, you can appeal the decision in-app.
• Are you making it easier for people to break your rules?
• This update does not change how we enforce our rules. Violative videos are still removed.
• We believe educating our community is a key part to how we build for safety on the platform. By introducing a warning for a first, less severe violation, we believe we will help creators learn more about our rules and avoid future violations.
• Does this update apply globally?
• Yes
• How many times can you get a warning?
• Once, for your first, less severe violation. After that, any future violation will accrue a strike.
• How many warnings/strikes before getting kicked off TikTok?
• 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.

Account-level ineligible for feed

• Why are you making entire accounts ineligible for recommendation?
• We take great care in ensuring that the For You feed is an experience that is suitable for a broad audience.
• When we find an account has multiple videos that have not met our For You eligibility standards, we will take action against the account as a whole to make it harder for users to discover, through the For You feed and account search, content that may not be suitable for a broad audience.
• What’s the threshold for making an account ineligible for recommendation?
• We do not share specific numbers related to thresholds to avoid people taking advantage of our systems.
• If an account deletes the videos that are ineligible for recommendation, will the restriction be lifted?
• In addition, creators can also appeal the restrictions for our teams to review.
• How will you manage someone just creating a new account after being banned/restricted?
• We do not allow the use of multiple accounts to intentionally bypass our rules or their enforcement.

Account check

• Where can you access Account Check from?
• It will initially be accessible through the Creator Center in-app.
• What does Account Check include?
• Account Check will let creators see their account status across multiple features , from posting videos to commenting and using direct messaging. It will also check their last 30 posts and highlight any that have been removed due to violating our Community Guidelines or restrictions for not meeting our For You eligibility standards.
• How is account check different from account status?
• Account Check will provide a more thorough overview of a creator’s account standing, for example, by looking at their last 30 posts and highlighting whether they have been restricted for not meeting our For You eligibility standards.

What are your key takeaways from the updated TikTok Community Guidelines?

It is not hidden knowledge that creators play a fundamental role in helping maintain a safe and entertaining environment for everyone on TikTok.

The focus is to empower people with information about policies and tools so they can safely express themselves and connect with others.

Community Guidelines are the rules and standards that apply to everything and everyone TikTok.

This update, which will take effect on the 17th of May 2024, builds on ongoing work to improve understanding and bring greater transparency about the rules and how the organization will enforce them.

In this latest iteration, TikTok has added and updated definitions to clarify her policies, like those regarding hate speech and health misinformation.

They’ve also included more detail about how they moderate TikTok features such as Search, LIVE, and the For You feed.

‘For You’ eligibility standards are updated as well. This helps to create a safer For You feed experience that’s suitable for a broad audience on TikTok.

They’re introducing a policy to make an entire account temporarily ineligible for recommendation in the For You feed if a creator repeatedly posts content that goes against the For You feed standards.

Their account and content will be harder to find in search.

They will notify creators when their accounts have been restricted in this way, and creators will be able to appeal.

“We always look for opportunities to help creators better understand our unique rules and have introduced a warning strike when a creator violates our Community Guidelines for the first time”, says Adam Presser, TikTok’s head of Operations, Trust and Safety.  “The warning strike does not count toward an account’s strike tally, but any future violations will. We notify creators about which rule they’ve broken and how they can appeal if they believe a mistake has been made. Zero-tolerance policies (for example, incitement to violence) aren’t eligible for these reminders; accounts will immediately be banned”, he further explained.

TikTok will also be making it easier for creators to check their account status as they begin to roll out ‘Account Check’.

This is a new feature that will enable creators to quickly audit their account and their last 30 posts and see at a glance whether they are in good standing on TikTok.

Account Check will also include information about whether access to certain features, like comments or direct messaging, has been restricted due to violations.

Creators will also be able to see whether their content has been removed for breaking our rules or has been restricted from reaching the For You feed.

With this information, creators can both better understand how their content and behaviour may have affected their standing on the platform and how they can appeal decisions if they believe TikTok got it wrong.

This is in addition to the existing “Account status” page, introduced last year, which lists a creator’s video violations.

What’s more? They’re also publishing the TikTok Creator Code of Conduct, which will take effect in the coming weeks.

These are the standards that they expect creators involved in TikTok programs, features, events and campaigns to follow on and off-platform, in addition to their Community Guidelines and Terms of Service.

TikTok believes that being a part of these programs is an opportunity that comes with additional responsibilities, and this code will also help provide creators with additional reassurance that other participants are meeting these standards, too.

Adam Presser concludes, “We’ll continue to focus on helping our community, and in particular our creators, better understand what our rules are and how we enforce them to provide a safer experience for over a billion people on TikTok”.