TikTok, like any other platform, is prone to censorship and quality control. Not every video posted gets its chance to reach the appropriate target audience or full potential.

If you’ve been on the platform long enough, you’ve probably encountered this and had some random videos taken down for almost no reason. 

Some of the removed videos can be reposted and allowed back on the platform after changing and tweaking the method by which they were posted.

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Generally, TikTok takes down an average of 1% of all videos posted per day, from a total of over 1 billion users in January 2023, that’s roughly 10 million videos.

Every user is required to abide by the Tiktok guidelines, measuring up to AI and human evaluation on what may be a violation. 

However, sometimes videos can be taken down for confusion or false AI calculations which may be due to how the sound or other misleading elements of a specific video.

Reasons why videos are removed from TikTok 

Promoting violence 

Anything from knives and sharp objects to physical altercations can be considered a violence guideline violation. If your content includes any level of what is mentioned be cautious and either explain it in the description or do not post it at all. 

Hate speech & misssinformation 

It’s difficult to determine what exactly the platform means by misinformation but to stay on the safe side of things it would be best to stay away from politics. Anything that goes against the government agenda or what may be deemed controversial is better off posted on other platforms with little to no restriction on what you can say. 

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Impersonating another creator or celebrity 

Although there are a few people on the platform impersonating others such as fake Drake, and fake Elon Musk. and fake Mr. Beast, their accounts are amongst the most at risk and can disappear at any given time. 

Depicting non-consensual sex acts

This one is a major reason many videos get taken down, even if it was an acting skit. If you’re going to involve anyone in anything that could even remotely be misunderstood as sexual harassment, it is certain that your whole account will vanish.

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What is the limit of guideline violations on TikTok

While some videos get reposted with a different caption and do just fine which is the case in most times, others simply keep getting taken down and may result in an exceeded amount of guideline violations. 

There is no specific limit to how many violations are considered to exceed the set limit, the average amount of violations per account is often an average of 5 – 6 guideline violations.

Most popular videos that have been removed from TikTok 

There is no way to take a look at the videos that have been permanently deleted from the app, but reposted videos with an adjusted caption can be found and here the most viewed of them. 

In this video the creator had their video taken down due to violating violence guidelines, and lost her job along with her video. 

The video was reposted and gained over 6 million views, without having it removed again. Why the video wasn’t taken down again isn’t explainable from our side, perhaps it is the caption that she first had on the original video. 

Another one for impersonating a Police officer, this TikTok was taken down for violating one of the main guidelines, but quickly got reposted and took off to generate 1.8 million views in less the 28 hours. 

The creator plays the role of someone attempting a citizen’s arrest and the response is too hilarious for it to be coming from a real cop. 

These kinds of videos are by far the most kind of deleted videos on the platform usually in a form of discovering something super paranormal or weird. 

In this video, the creator uses Google Earth to find a weird military setup in the middle of nowhere, and for some reason, TikTok still took it down. 

Whether it be due to safety reasons or governments having a hand in limiting what can be exposed, no platform is really free of restrictions and limitations. 

If the previous examples weren’t enough, this video is a reflection of how seriously TikTok takes into account its guidelines and restrictions here are a video about animals. 

A prairie dog was screeching in fear of the creator’s shadow, and TikTok took the video down for animal abuse. The cute little animal went super viral getting over 31.2 million views in one single video. 

This is one of the main reasons you should not settle for having your video removed, perhaps the content is viral quality and AI just misunderstood it. 

Best practices to keep your videos from getting taken down 

When posting something that may seem controversial or include some level of physical altercation even if it was fake, the best way to prevent any content loss is to make it clear that this doesn’t go against any guidelines or restrictions. 

Some of the most common ways to do this are by including these lines in your description: 

• Fake Knife, gun, sword, or whatever it may be 
• Trained professional stunt specialist or actor
• Fake scenario or this is filmed with safety precautions

Additionally, you can further elaborate on the idea you’re trying to communicate and add the yellow caution emoji or red warning sign for AI and guideline reviewers to pay attention to the context and not delete or remove your video. 

Conclusion 

Whether you’re promoting your personal opinion or want to reveal something the world isn’t yet ready for TikTok just like any other platform may not be the place for that. 

However not all deleted TikTok videos are permanently taken off of the feed. TikTok most times will allow you to review their decision or simply repost whatever you posted with a modification. 

It is important to ensure your warning or violations do not exceed the set limit of violations that will lead to a ban on your account or another deleted video.