The term ‘shadowban’ is quite popular on social media, especially TikTok and Instagram. You may have heard from an influencer, and I am sure this social media slang has made you curious at any point, right?
A TikTok shadowban is a type of secret ban when a user is muted on social media without any notification or alert.
Okay, so it was never official until some people saw a sudden TikTok ban and noticed a sharp decline in their engagement rates, and it was confirmed that the term ‘shadowban’ actually exists.
Well, let me tell you this first: if TikTok can raise you to fame overnight, it can literally ban you on the spot for violating its rules. And trust me, TikTok shadowban is the WORST nightmare of any TikTok influencer and when TikTok says ANY, the platform actually means it.
So, how can you find out if you got into a hot mess? Go through your analytics. If your TikTok stardom altitude has suddenly started crashing down despite performing so well in the past, know that you have ended up annoying TikTok.
Once you are shadowbanned from TikTok, you are not allowed to participate actively in all the fun stuff. You have been banished from the “For you” page (and this is actually happening with TikTok creators, despite their huge fan following). Simply put, you are under the wicked “TikTok Shadowban” spell!
Also, to maintain a post frequency, a TikTok scheduler can help you!
So, like any content creator who gets banned on a social media site, you might be wondering why it happened and how you can get out of it. Well, it’s nothing to stress about. Because this is why you’re here in the first place; to find out a way of getting out of shadowban. Not only will we tell you why it happened in the first place but we will also guide you about how to avoid it in the future as well.
What Is TikTok Shadowban?
A Shadowban on TikTok refers to the automated process of making a creator’s content less visible to the audience by TikTok. The breach of TikTok terms and guidelines usually causes it.
Shadowbanning on TikTok is basically a form of warning or a punishment enforced as a penalty. This penalty results in a visible decrease in engagement. The worst drawback of this shadowban penalty is that the TikTok platform never notifies the content creator about it, and the content’s viewership continues to decline.
It is usually found through the analytical data by the user that its content became a victim of the silent Shadowban. It doesn’t mean that your content becomes completely camouflaged, but the engagement of the content reduces significantly. In 2023, TikTok stats in a report showed that the app generated 272.7 million downloads worldwide.
With such a vast audience, getting a TikTok shadowban is nothing less than a calamity for the content maker. It is TikTok’s way of keeping its platform free from spam, abuse, and inappropriate content. This restricted visibility negatively impacts the growth of your account. Shadow ban on TikTok is not official. However, It has been keenly observed that Tiktok quietly follows this practice!
This is what a TikTok user @coah.stone has to say about shadowbanning.
@coach.stone What to do if you get shadowbanned. This is the truth. #coachstone #shadowbanned #shadowbanning #shadowban #growingontiktok #tiktokalgorithm
♬ News / Truth Investigation / Investigation / Suspicion / Consideration(1013150) – A.TARUI
How Do You Get Shadowbanned on TikTok
Shadowbanning occurs quietly, and you won’t ever receive any kind of warning or notification beforehand. Therefore, when your viewership engagement drops suddenly, you can’t help but wonder about all the possible reasons why your content’s previously soaring performance took a nosedive.
If you were producing top-notch, high-quality content that was engaging and now it doesn’t seem to work any wonder, maybe it’s time to contemplate your options. There is a high chance you got under TikTok’s radar and became a victim of Shadowban.
Something triggered TikTok to take Shadowban action against your account. A shadowban may happen due to a number of reasons. Let’s take a look and speculate whether you made any of these mistakes:
Community Guidelines Violation
TikTok follows strict community guidelines. Anything that promotes hate speech, bullying, self-inflicting harm, gore, harassment, or any other kind of content that includes violence results in TikTok’s community guidelines violation.
Use of Copyrighted Content
Using unauthorized copyrighted music or content without giving proper credit to the owner or without getting the necessary permission leads to copyright violation. Steer clear from everything that might cause copyright issues for you or the platform. Copyright claims can malign the image of the platform’s authenticity.
https://www.tiktok.com/@its_4ngelina/video/7245716959419960582?lang=en
Spreading False Information or Spamming
Liking and following in huge numbers, spamming feeds with your unnecessary marketing, and taking part in false engagement schemes such as like-for-like to gain short-lived fame can get you shadowban on TikTok quickly! Any action that depicts spam-like activity puts your account in shadowban.
Posting Adult Content
Promoting nudity, posting adult and graphic content, drugs, and other sexually explicit content can lead to an instant shadowban TikTok. It may also result in a permanent ban on the platform. The TikTok audience comprises variable age groups, so the platform restricts any explicit content.
Your Content Got Flagged
If your content becomes the reason for hurting the sentiments of a group of people, your content can get flagged as inappropriate by a number of viewers.
You are sure to get shadowbanned!
Promoting Dangerous Challenges or Acts
Following ridiculous trends and challenges that may have dangerous, criminal, or fatal consequences are not allowed on TikTok. Carrying out extreme stunts that might result in serious injury or fatality only to go viral also results in going to the timeout phase. There have been reported cases of public misdemeanors and fatal accidents in the past for TikTok content creation. Examples of such challenges are the black-out challenge, Cha Cha slide challenge, milk crate challenge, Kia Boyz, etc.
Using VPN
Using a VPN to access TikTok and changing your IP locations to get mass viewership in different countries triggers the TikTok algorithms for the presence of unusual traffic on the platform. Changing locations for monetization from an ineligible country can get your content shadowbanned.
Harassment
Harassing, blackmailing, abusing, shaming, or threatening behavior is intolerable and against TikTok policies. Condoning someone else’s wrong actions or hateful speech amounts to shadowban. TikTok strictly prohibits all these misconduct practices.
By an Accident
Sometimes, your content accidentally goes into the timeout. Everyone makes mistakes, and TikTok is no exception. An error in the system can cause malfunction. The TikTok content filtration works under an algorithm-based model; at times, it may glitch and flag your content as inappropriate.
All these actions or accidental misconduct may cause a Shadowban. The penalty of shadowban can be avoided by keeping the above criteria in mind. Therefore, It is always advised to read carefully all the TikTok community guidelines and terms of service, as prevention is always better than cure!
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Learn the Possible Reasons for the TikTok Shadowban
A TikTok shadowban can be triggered by not following the terms of service or TikTok’s community guidelines properly. If you don’t appear on the “For you” page or you suspect your online presence has been affected, it is time to check a few things.
Better late than never, let’s protect ourselves from the various possible reasons why a Shadowban may occur. These reasons may include
Copyright Infringement
One of the most common and obvious reasons for a shadowban is the use of unauthorized music or content. No matter how great a beat may sound to you it is not allowed for redistribution or reuse.
It can create a copyright lawsuit against the user and the platform. TikTok likes to maintain its image as an authentic platform. Therefore, no social media platform allows copyright infringement.
Failing to Comply With the Standard Guidelines
TikTok upholds a strict policy against hate speech, harassment, sexually explicit content, nudity, violence, and all such behaviors that contradict the community guidelines. It condemns any content that promotes harmful consequences. Failing to comply with these parameters is a clear roadmap to a shadowban on Tiktok.
Hashtag Misuse
Enforcing the success ladder to earn maximum views by misusing the keywords and too many hashtags in video captions gets you under the infamous shadow of the Tiktok Shadowban umbrella. Stuffing irrelevant hashtags can lead to misleading content.
Fake Engagement/ Spam
Using bots or fake accounts to increase engagement, likes, followers, or comments leads to shadowban. Moreover, getting involved in like-for-like or follow to get follow back schemes and spreading misleading information can do the job as well.
Reported Content
Your account’s visibility gets restricted to a minimum if your content has been reported by multiple users for being inappropriate and against the TikTok guidelines. TikTok wants to make the platform a safe and fun place for its audience to hang out. It allows other users to flag anything that goes against these policies.
Change in Algorithms
TikTok updates its algorithms regularly to keep spammers at bay. This change in algorithm aims to provide the best user experience to its audience. However, such changes can also trigger a shadowban against your account
Suspicious Growth
An unusual, non-organic, suspicious increase in growth and following of a particular account brings it under the surveillance of TikTok. This abnormal rapid growth in the number of new followers limits the visibility. TikTok keeps a check on the analytics and performance of its content creators and shadowban accounts that appear suspicious.
Accessing TikTok From a Blocked Account IP Address
If your previous TikTok account got banned, chances are your new account holds the same fate. Accessing TikTok from an old banned account’s IP address or device won’t take you far and will ultimately get you shadowbanned. TikTok keeps the data of banned IP addresses to prevent possible future troubles.
By considering all the above-mentioned aspects, you can keep your accounts from getting shadowbanned. Keep yourself updated with the latest algorithm changes. Moreover, if you suspect that your account got Shadowban by accident, reach out to the support team of TikTok.
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How Long Does the Shadowban Last?
A shadowban is not an officially launched penalty tool, so it is impossible to guess the exact time span. Generally, people have observed a duration that lasts between 24 hours to a month. 2 weeks, or close to around 14 days, is the most supported argument among shadowbanned Tiktokers.
Knowing how long a shadowban may last is almost impossible due to its unofficial status.
Getting a TikTok Shadowban for even a few days is more than enough to cause significant damage to the channel’s viewership. The process to lift a shadowban may vary depending upon the violation of code of conduct. Either you have to sit through and wait patiently for the Shadowban to lift on its own, or you can appeal and remove the content that violated TikTok’s terms and guidelines.
Have a look at this video!
@salutemarie #CapCutVelocity really tiktok 😫
Tips to Get Rid of the TikTok Shadowban
There are no particular procedures to lift the big bad shadowban. But a few tweaks here and a few changes there can get your beloved TikTok account back on track and running smoothly. It takes about 2 to 4 weeks to wriggle out of the claws of the Shadowban completely.
You can confirm if you have been shadowbanned by using the TikTok shadow ban checker and remover tools available in the market. These tools work as remarkable indicators against shadowban. Here are a few useful tips to get you started on your shadowban lifting journey
Cross-Check Your Content for Guidelines Violation
Double-check your entire content, comments, and hashtag usage for violation of the terms and conditions of TikTok. Have you cluelessly activated the fire alarms, created havoc among the peacekeeping bots, and then got a TikTok shadowban?
Make sure you go through the community guidelines to understand better how you may have crossed the limit. Sometimes, using music or a song, any video that perfectly conveys your message in your content without authorization from the owner can land you in hot waters.
Remove/ Delete the Source of Your Troubles
Remove and delete anything that brewed this trouble into your beautiful TikTok journey. Check if certain content can be saved by editing, or if it needs a complete removal, don’t hesitate to take necessary action!
Stop Everything That Translates to Being a Spammer
Nobody loves spammers, especially the peacekeeping bots!
Drop everything that counts as spam-like behavior. Be authentic, don’t bulk-follow, don’t use banned hashtags, and don’t flood the feed with your 100 TikTok trends &videos in a week. The TikTok algorithm considers it a spammy behavior and forces you to sit in the timeout quietly.
Clear Out Your TikTok Cache
Clear out your cache and try to forget all the bad memories that made TikTok angry with you. Sometimes, clearing the cache lifts the Shadowban.
Delete and Reinstall the TikTok App
Deleting and reinstalling the TikTok app might do the trick. It may clear the cache and history. Downloading and reinstalling the updated version of the app may dismiss your shadowban problem altogether
Don’t Go On Posting Sprees to Gain Your Viewership Back
Don’t panic, and act natural!
To gain your lost fame back, don’t post content vigorously. Maintain post frequency but don’t go on a mad spree to gain your viewership back quickly. Give time to your content to gain its engagement stats back up again.
Be Patient
All things are difficult before they are easy. Be Patient and wait until the shadow ban gets lifted and you get back to enjoy the perks of being in the limelight again.
Request Assistance
If you think that none of the above methods worked or the TikTok shadowban was caused by a mistake at TikTok’s end, Request assistance from the support team. The support team can assist you in resolving the mistaken shadowban issue.
TikkTok is a fun platform to enjoy little things in life. But it is always best to follow community guidelines to keep your accounts away from being shadowbanned. The best way to enjoy TikTok is to stay out of the troubles that may lead to shadowban.
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Wrapping Up
The TikTok shadowban is an automated, unofficial process by TikTok that limits the visibility of the content due to violation of its community guidelines and terms of service shadowban on TikTok can be triggered for a number of reasons. These may include the use of unauthorized content, violating community guidelines, posting adult and explicit content, carrying out challenges that have deadly consequences, harassing, depicting a spammer-like behavior, using irrelevant hashtags, rapid follower growth, and inappropriate flagged content by multiple users.
There is no definitive timeframe for a Shadowban as it is not an official practice. However, it may span over a time of 24 hours to 4 weeks. A 2-week or around 14-day shadowban is the most widely observed period for a shadowban to last.
By following certain tips, one can get out of the shadowban. These tips include reviewing content to match the guidelines, removing any copyright infringement material, not acting like a spammer, clearing out cache, deleting and reinstalling the app, etc. A shadowban can also happen mistakenly due to regular algorithm updates by the platform. Contacting the support team in case of non-solution of the issue may help.
TikTok strictly adheres to its set parameters and doesn’t tolerate careless behavior or noncompliance with its terms and conditions, not complying with these results in TikTok Shadowban. TikTok’s audience comprises the age rating of almost all age groups. It aims to provide exceptional entertainment services and a safe platform for all its users. However, Failing to follow these guidelines can result in getting one’s online presence shadowbanned immediately.
