In a statement released by media consultant Emuleomo Adebayo of Capital One Group, TikTok stated that the new guidelines align with the company’s efforts to uphold human rights aligned with international legal systems. The guidelines are the most comprehensive update to date and are based on the company's commitment to supporting human rights and balancing freedom of expression with preventing harm.
TikTok consulted over 100 organizations from around the world, as well as members of their community, to inform the update. The input they received helped them strengthen their rules and respond to new threats and potential harms. The new community guidelines have already taken effect. TikTok has promised to provide additional training to moderators in the coming months to help them enforce these updated rules and standards effectively.
The new guidelines are organized thematically into different topic areas, such as Behavioral & Mental Health. For each of these areas, TikTok explains briefly what they don’t allow, then provides more details such as definitions and the range of actions they might take. The company has also laid out the four pillars of their approach to moderation: removing violative content, age-restricting mature content, making content ineligible for recommendation in the For You feed that isn’t appropriate for a broad audience, and empowering the community with information, tools, and resources to stay in control of their experience.
TikTok’s update to their Community Guidelines expands on their enforcement strategy by sharing more information about their actions against accounts that violate their rules. The company explains their considerations when enforcing its laws based on public interests and includes more detail about using informational labels, warnings, and opt-in screens.
Some fundamental changes include advancing their rules for treating synthetic media, adding "tribe" as a protected attribute in their hate speech and hateful behaviour policies, and providing more detail about their work to protect civic and election integrity.
TikTok believes everyone deserves to feel safe online and that feeling safe is vital to unlocking imagination and creative expression. The company will continue to invest in its work to keep its platform a safe, inclusive, and authentic home for its global community. TikTok is grateful to everyone in the TikTok community and the external experts who have contributed and continue to help them advance their rules and stay ahead of emerging threats.