Safety Centre

Bullying prevention

Updated: January 21, 2025

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What is bullying?

Bullying typically involves targeted behaviour intended to cause physical, social and/or psychological harm. The behaviour can be carried out online or offline by an individual or a group who misuses their power, or perceived power, over another person or group of people who feel unable to stop it from happening.

We recognise that bullying can cause severe distress to people, and we do not tolerate it on our platform. TikTok is a global community that thrives on creativity and expression, and it is critical that people feel safe to express themselves without fear of bullying or harassment on the platform.

How to identify bullying and harassment on the platform?

Common forms of bullying include verbal bullying, physical bullying and sexual harassment. We do not tolerate language or behaviour that harasses, humiliates, threatens or doxxes (publishing personal information about someone online with a malicious intent) anyone on the platform. Learn more about common forms of bullying.

Did you know?

Bullying affects those who bully, those who are bullied and even those who witness bullying.
Bystanders – people who see bullying – can play an important role in stopping bullying behaviour.
It’s quite common for people to be bullied by people they know (e.g. a classmate, friend, colleague).
Bullying can occur in almost any social environment, including in schools, online, at the playground and at work.
People who are bullied can also bully others. Those who engage in it often intimidate others in order to regain a sense of power or control that was lost in another area of their life.

Ways to prevent bullying on TikTok

If you are experiencing bullying on TikTok, please report it so our moderation team can review it and take appropriate action if it violates TikTok’s Community Guidelines.

Bystanders (people who witness bullying) can also play an important role in stopping bullying behaviour. If you ever feel that someone is being harassed or is being inappropriate, here are some partner resources that may help:

Tools and features to protect your well-being on TikTok

We recognise that different users will have varying perceptions of offensive and negative content. We offer a variety of tools for users to control and manage their TikTok experience. Please visit our Help Centre to learn more about User safety as well as our Safety Centre to learn more about Reporting.
TikTok enables people to interact with each other in many ways, through comments, direct messages, Duet, Stitch and more. They’re all part of what makes an online community engaging, but, like communication anywhere, they also carry the risk of hurtful interactions. To foster a welcoming and supportive community, we have various app settings (settings vary depending on your region and version of the app) that allow individuals to control their TikTok experience.

Private accounts

By default, accounts for individuals under 16 are set to private, which means you can approve or reject follower requests, and only people you’ve approved as followers can see your content. Accounts for individuals over 16 start out as public, meaning anyone on TikTok can view your videos and post comments or start a Duet to engage with the content you’ve created and shared. You can easily change this in your Privacy settings.
If you're experiencing high volumes of unfriendly or unwanted comments on your content, we recommend that you turn on "Comment Care Mode" via your privacy settings so that you can better manage and control the comments that you receive.

Customising your FYF

Don’t want to be exposed to a certain type of content on the For You page? Long-press the video and select "Not interested". Next, click into "Details" to block specific hashtags used in the video.
Further limit unwanted content by adding or modifying keyword and hashtag filters under "Content preferences" in your settings.

Customising who can message you

Direct Messages (DMs) provide a way for community members to communicate privately. Direct Messages can be sent and received from "Everyone", "Friends" (creators who you follow, who also follow you back) or "No one". Only registered accounts of users who are 16 or older are eligible for Direct Messages, and it’s one of the features that a parent or guardian can control directly when Family Pairing is turned on.

Customising who can Duet and Stitch with you

Duets allow users to create videos responding to others’ TikTok content. You can decide who has permission to Duet or Stitch with you. You can choose one setting for all videos or adjust the setting for each video individually. For users under 16, the feature is set to "No one" and cannot be changed. For 16 to 17-year-old users, this feature is set to "Friends" but can be changed to "No one" or "Everyone". Learn how

Controlling who can comment on your videos

In settings, comments are set to "Friends" for users under 16 by default. This means only those who follow you and who you follow back can comment on your videos. You can change this to "No one" to stop others from posting comments on your videos. For users aged 16 and up, this function is set to "Everyone" and can be changed to fit your preferences.

Filtering comments and keywords

With comment filters turned on, offensive comments will automatically be hidden. You can also create a custom list of keywords so that comments containing those words will be hidden automatically. You can decide who can comment on your videos in general by adjusting your Privacy settings. Learn how.
Filter selected comment types (also called Spam and offensive comments) allows you to hide offensive or spammy comments unless you approve them.
Keyword filters hide comments with words or phrases that you've selected.
Filter All Comments hides comments on your videos unless you approve them.
Filter Comments from Unfriendly People allows you to filter comments that are similar to comments that you have previously disliked, reported or deleted.
Filter Comments from Strangers allows you to filter comments from people not on your follower or following list.

Removing comments and followers

You also have the ability to delete any inappropriate comments posted on your videos. Just tap and hold the comment, then choose "delete". Learn how.
You can delete a follower at any time or permanently block an account from viewing your content or sending you messages. Learn how.

Report

If you see content that violates TikTok’s Community Guidelines, you can report it in-app by following these steps.

Can I make negative comments about public figures?

We do not allow public figures to be targeted with severe attacks that may promote physical harm or promotion of harassment against them.
We consider the risk of physical or severe psychological harm resulting from these attacks to be greater than the benefit of their expression, and remove such content.

How can I safely connect with others about bullying?

You can find suggestions for and examples of How to Safely Share Your Story and connect with others in our Well-Being Guide.
You may also find a community of people who share your experiences by searching through relevant hashtags.

Disclaimer

The content provided on this page is for information purposes and educational use only. “The Bullying Prevention Page” should not be deemed a substitute for medical, psychological or psychiatric diagnosis, treatment or advice. Do not hesitate to seek professional medical support or immediate emergency assistance if you, or any other person, are in a crisis, danger or experiencing a medical emergency. Please remember that you are not solely responsible for others' safety – you can get help.