Discrimination, Harassment, and Bullying

Last updated: Juni 2026

Principle

At TikTok, we welcome creative expression and open speech, while ensuring a safe environment for all users. We do not allow content that is inappropriate or otherwise unsuitable. Content that promotes hate speech or discrimination, or targets individuals with the intent to bully, harass, or humiliate, is also prohibited.


Inappropriate or unsuitable content

The following are examples of what is not allowed:

  • Content that is distasteful, disrespectful, or profane

  • Content that contains coarse language or insulting actions

Bullying & Harassment

At TikTok, we welcome creative freedom and open expression, but it is paramount to us that our users feel safe and respected on our platform. While we encourage debate, commentary, and critique of ideas, opinions, or behaviors, we do not tolerate personal attacks or content that targets an individual with the intent to bully, harass, or humiliate. These standards are rooted in our core values and are essential to fostering a respectful environment across our platform. They apply consistently across all monetization features, including ad creatives, landing pages, branded content, and other promotional tools.


We do not allow language or behavior that bullies, harasses, humiliates, threatens, or doxxes any identifiable individual (a real, non-fictional target, identified by name, username, or any other identifiable information), including both public and private figures. In assessing such behavior, we consider factors such as context, intent, and whether the conduct involves coordinated action.


Examples of what is not allowed:

Prohibited actions include, but are not limited to:

  • Degrading someone or expressing disgust or hostility on the basis of their personal characteristics or circumstances, such as their physical appearance, intellect, personality traits, and hygiene

  • Showing someone being physically or verbally bullied by another person or group

  • Expressing the desire for a person to die, including by suicide, get a serious disease, or experience other severe physical harm

  • Threats of attack or assault against an individual or their property

  • Inciting others to bully, exclude, or segregate an individual

  • Promoting coordinated harassment of a person or attempting to create conflict between people, such as calling for others to flood comments with abusive language

  • Threatening or encouraging others to doxx, share account information, blackmail, or hack someone’s account

  • Making unwanted sexual comments or engaging in unwanted sexual behaviour, sexual harassment, objectification, or sexually demeaning portrayals.

  • Degrading victims of violent tragedies, such as claiming that they deserved to die or that surviving members are lying about the event

Examples of what we may allow:

  • Awareness Campaigns: Content that raises awareness about bullying, harassment, humiliation, threats or doxxing with a clear message for help or support.

  • Artistic/Narrative Content: Other forms of media (e.g. movie trailers, TV shows, games) that feature this behavior as part of a narrative, but only if this behaviour is not being praised, glorified, promoted, or advocated for.

More information

  • Doxxing: Publishing or threatening to publish personal information about someone online with malicious intent. We recognise intent can be subjective, so we use objective indicators to help us understand it, such as captions and hashtags.

  • Sexual Harassment: The sexualisation or sexual degradation of an individual through language or behaviours relating to sexual activities, intimate body parts, and sexual health information.

  • Public Figures: People 18 and older with a significant public role, such as a government official, politician, business leader, or celebrity. We don't identify people under 18 as public figures.

  • Private Figures: All people under 18, and adults who aren't public figures.

Hate Speech & Discrimination

At TikTok we are committed to building a platform that is safe, inclusive, and respectful to everyone. As part of this commitment, we prohibit advertising content that features hate speech or discrimination, including any form of communication that disparages individuals or groups based on protected identity characteristics. Hate speech refers to language or behavior that targets an individual or group based on a protected attribute.


These standards are rooted in our core values and are essential to fostering a respectful environment across our platform and apply consistently across all monetization features, including ad creatives, landing pages, branded content, and other promotional tools.

Protected Characteristics

Ads must not contain content that attacks, incites hatred against, or discriminates against any person or group based on protected characteristics. Protected characteristics, as defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international conventions, include:

  • Race or ethnicity

  • Colour or skin tone

  • Nationality, national origin, national identity

  • Citizenship, immigration or refugee status

  • Religion or belief (or lack thereof)

  • Political or union affiliation

  • Gender or gender identity

  • Sexual orientation

  • Age

  • Family status, caste, socio-economic or cultural background

  • Veteran status

  • Physical, mental, or emotional disability or health conditions

Prohibited Content

Hate Speech & Discrimination

We do not allow content which:

  • Expresses or encourages hatred, contempt, or disgust toward individuals or groups based on protected characteristics. This includes, but is not limited to, dehumanizing comparisons, the use of harmful stereotypes, slurs, or derogatory language.

  • Mocks or exploits individuals based on disability or health status.

  • Depicts, justifies, glorifies, or incites violence, exclusion, or discrimination toward protected groups or individuals; including, but not limited to expressing wishes for harm (e.g., death, illness, disaster), and praising or belittling acts of violence against these groups.

  • Misgenders or deadnames transgender or non-binary individuals.

  • Promotes or advertises so-called "conversion therapy" or related practices.

  • Denies, minimizes, praises, justifies or trivializes acts of violence against individuals or groups based on protected characteristics, including established historical mass violence (e.g., the Holocaust).

  • Makes harmful generalizations about religious beliefs or compares religions in a derogatory manner.

  • Insults, dismisses or mocks individuals based on their perceived faith, religious practices, or lack thereof. This includes making harmful generalizations, comparing religions in a derogatory manner, or showing disrespect toward religious sites, ceremonies, figures, symbols, or traditions.

  • Attempts to convert others from one religion, belief system or religious opinion to another.

Hateful Ideologies

Hateful ideologies are systems of beliefs that exclude, oppress, or otherwise discriminate against individuals based on their protected attributes.


Additionally, content must not:

  • Praise, promote, justify, or express support for hateful ideologies that incite hatred, discrimination, or violence against individuals or groups based on protected characteristics. This includes, but is not limited to, content aligned with ideologies that promote racial or ethnic superiority, gender-based discrimination, religious intolerance, or exclusion of individuals based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or other protected characteristics.

  • Feature names, symbols, slogans, uniforms, gestures, music, or imagery that are widely recognized as being associated with ideologies or movements that promote hatred, discrimination, or violence based on protected characteristics.

  • Suggest that any group is inherently superior or inferior to another based on protected characteristics. This includes claims of moral, intellectual, genetic, cultural, or physical superiority based on race, ethnicity, gender, religion, nationality, or similar attributes.

  • Insult or show disrespect towards national symbols of any country, including flags, national anthems etc.

Allowed Content

  • Educational content and awareness campaigns with clear advocacy for help or corrective actions.

  • Other forms of media (e.g. movie trailers, TV shows, games) that aim to educate, inform or raise awareness.

  • Advertising that focuses on, and potentially excludes, certain groups where the exclusion is for a legitimate purpose.

  • Ads that share diverse viewpoints in a respectful manner, provided they do not feature forms of discrimination, intolerance, violence, or harm against individuals or groups.

All advertising content must comply with all applicable laws and cultural standards, including local blasphemy laws, other regional sensitivities and community expectations.


Advertisers are expected to comply with our Terms of Service, Community Guidelines, and all relevant policies outlined in the Business Help Center.