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 to have an account on TikTok, we will ban that account.

Violating our rules can lead to enforcement actions on accounts. We will ban accounts or account holders if they engage in:

• A single severe content violation
• Repeated content violations
• Circumventing enforcement of our guidelines
• The operation of accounts dedicated to activity that violates our rules

This includes all activity that has a primary purpose that is not allowed on our platform, such as accounts focused on hate speech, the trade or marketing of prohibited goods, spam, or impersonation (learn more about circumvention and dedicated accounts in Spam and Deceptive Behavior). In the case of severe violations of our rules or engagement in circumvention behavior, we may also ban any other existing accounts of the account holder on our platform.

We will also ban an account if we become aware that the account holder is a violent or hateful actor or has committed a sexual offense against a young person. We consider off-platform activity related to violence, hate, and child sexual abuse or exploitation 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 ineligible for the FYF may lead to the account and its content being ineligible for recommendation, including being ineligible for the FYF and harder to find in search. Learn more about our general approach to account enforcement.

News and Government, Politician, and Political Party Accounts

News entities, governments, politicians, and political party accounts 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 respecting 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.

TikTok LIVE allows you to create content, interact with audiences, and build your community in real-time. To support a safe experience on LIVE, we restrict young people from using this feature. You must be 18 years and older to go LIVE, and to send gifts to a creator during a LIVE session.

A violation of our rules will lead to closing an ongoing LIVE session, and may lead to temporary restrictions on using LIVE or LIVE features, or an account ban. Accounts must meet relevant entry criteria to be eligible for certain LIVE monetization features.

A LIVE is ineligible for the FYF when it shares content that is ineligible for the FYF, or when the main purpose of the LIVE is redirecting people to go off-platform. A LIVE is restricted (18 years and older) when it shares content that is not suitable for young people. If a LIVE repeatedly shares content that is ineligible for the FYF, we apply temporary restrictions on the account holder, including restricting the visibility of their LIVE sessions or their use of certain LIVE features.

In a multi-guest LIVE, the host account is responsible for content streamed in their LIVE. Hosts must not facilitate a guests' sharing of content that violates our rules or does not meet our FYF standards. If guests stream violative content, it will lead to closing the multi-LIVE session, and may lead to temporary LIVE access restrictions for the host or guests. If guests stream content ineligible for the FYF, it will make the LIVE ineligible for the FYF.

Using the search tool can be an enriching and helpful way to discover content on the platform. When you perform a search, we seek to provide you with relevant search results. We restrict searches that use keywords or phrases that violate our rules. Content that is allowed on the platform but does not meet our recommendation eligibility may not appear as a top search result.

We provide search suggestions that are relevant to you. These search suggestions can be found throughout the platform, including autocomplete in the search tool, content from the You May Like section, and while watching content in the FYF.

Links are often shared in a profile, bio, or content to connect you 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. We do not allow posting links that direct people to content that violate our rules. A violation of our rules will lead to a removal of the link, a temporary restriction on re-uploading another link, or an account ban. If a link connects to content that would qualify as a severe violation of our rules, we may also ban the account.

Comments and direct messages on TikTok allow you 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, and 18 years and older to use advanced messaging features, such as group messages in some regions.

A violation of our rules will lead to restricted visibility or the removal of comments, or a restriction on sending direct messages, and may lead to an account ban if there is a severe violation.

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. Some monetization features, such as LIVE gifting, may have additional standards to use them. 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 ineligible in the FYF may be restricted from monetization features.

All commercial content on TikTok must be disclosed and 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. If we become aware of marketing content that has not been clearly disclosed, we will apply the content disclosure setting. Commercial content includes promoting your own brand, products, or services, or 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).