On January 30, a 23-year-old Chinese gay rights activist living in the United States named Hua Haidi awoke to find that his TikTok account had been deleted. A day later he discovered that his Weibo and other social media accounts had been scrubbed of all content. Over the following weeks, over 100 online personalities were targeted by censors–many of them LGBTQ activists who had written articles about their personal lives for English language publications such as The Guardian or BuzzFeed News. Some of them had not posted anything directly related to LGBTQ issues on TikTok or on their censored Webs at all. This is what appears to have placed them on China’s blacklist; an official list of “sensitive words” such as “gay” or “human rights” has not been shared with the public.
Why is China doing this? The Chinese government commonly uses censorship to control or punish dissent, but it rarely does so on such a wide scale and in such a coordinated fashion. In this case, the most likely explanation is that China’s top leaders were rattled by images of Hong Kong citizens protesting for their civil liberties last fall and wanted to make an example of those who expressed support for them online. Politically sensitive messages had also begun to emerge in these Weibo accounts: They included calls for freedom of speech, democracy, political self-determination for Taiwan (a territory which Beijing claims should be reunited with the mainland), human rights, and freedom for the persecuted Uighurs. The two issues–LGBTQ rights and support for Hong Kong protesters–were conflated in these accounts’ messages.
Like so much else about China, however, the country’s actions can seem contradictory or simply nonsensical to those outside of it. China has invested heavily in its movie star culture over the past decade; stars are even given awards by state-run media companies–yet now the government is cracking down on online celebrities with many followers who write about personal topics such as their sexuality or their belief they have been reincarnated as a rainbow unicorn (yes really). Meanwhile, there’s an image that must be protected: Chinese leaders are promoting “Confucian values” in response to the country’s declining birth rate, and they believe that LGBTQ people are morally corrupting.
China has long suppressed Chinese citizens who identify as gay using language that suggests it is a mental illness–a position shared with the Chinese Psychiatric Association (which since removed homosexuality from its list of illnesses in 2001). In 2015, six films made by directors associated with the independent Beijing Film Academy were banned after scholars there released an open letter supporting LGBT rights. There are no openly LGBTQ government officials or business executives in China; civil society groups have been silenced, and teachers are required to teach “family values” and eschew material that would “promote Western views of sexuality.” Gay marriage is illegal. The Chinese government has also sought to bar the media from mentioning LGBTQ issues and, of course, banned same-sex marriage ceremonies from taking place.
The state’s homophobia is complemented by a society that strongly discourages open discussion of sex and sexuality in general–as well as discussions about sexual identity (particularly when it comes to women). Yet while many Chinese remain ignorant or dismissive of notions like homosexuality or bisexuality, others openly rebel against the censorship; some even find ways to subvert it by using clouds of “eggplant emojis” for censored keywords.
If someone creates a video and then reports you for violating the TikTok rules, they are not removing your profile in any way. If there is an issue with that video, if it breaks the rules somehow, then the TikTok support team will be alerted of this and remove it from your account. They will also make sure to remind you of what those rules are as well.
If a person provides 10 reports, it usually takes less than 24 hours to process. However, sometimes the processing may last up to 2-3 days.
When you see an offensive video, click the “Report” button on their menu. Depending on what type of content it is, choose one of the following options.
There is no limit to the number of violations you can have on TikTok. However, if you continue to violate the app’s terms of service, you may be banned from using it.
It takes a minimum of three reports to ban an account.
There is no sure way to get your banned TikTok account back, unfortunately. If your account was banned for violating the app’s terms of service, then there is no guarantee that you will be able to have it reinstated. However, if you reach out to TikTok support and plead your case, they may be willing to reconsider their decision.
There is no definitive answer to this question as it can vary depending on the severity of the offense. In some cases, a ban may be permanent, while in others it may be temporary.
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as the ways to get permanently banned on TikTok vary depending on the actions or content that gets flagged by the app’s moderators. However, some of the most common ways to get banned from TikTok include posting explicit or offensive content, using copyrighted material without permission, and violating the app’s terms of service.
If a TikTok account is reported, it is likely that the account will be disabled. This is because TikTok takes copyright infringement and other violations of its terms of service seriously. If an account is disabled, the user will not be able to access the account or its content.
If you believe that an account on the TikTok app is violating our Community Guidelines or Terms of Service, you can report it to us by following these steps:Tap the three lines in the top left corner of the main screen to open the menu.Select “Report” from the list of options.Select the type of violation you’d like to report.
