Understanding the TikTok Shadowban and How to Recover

If you feel that your TikTok account has mysteriously lost its reach and traction, this could be a sign that you are affected by a shadowban. This can be a frustrating experience as it can negatively impact your TikTok marketing campaigns. You, therefore, need to understand why it happens and how you can recover.

What is a TikTok Shadowban?

Imagine a situation where your TikTok videos were performing very well, receiving thousands or even millions of views, likes, and comments. However, after some time, the engagement disappears, and you start struggling to get tens of views. Your content is no longer visible on the Followers “For You” page or even the trending hashtag page, and other users struggle to find your posts. 

When you see these kinds of situations, you are experiencing a TikTok shadowban. While the platform has never admitted to shadowbanning, it has measures to limit the reach of accounts that violate its community guidelines.

Key Reasons Why a TikTok Shadowban Happens

As is the case with other social media platforms, the main reason TikTok will shadowban your account is due to a violation of its community standards. Here are three key categories the platform considers:

Naughty Content

If you share content that TikTok considers naughty, you might get shadowbanned. Such content can include:

• Sharing steamy content. TikTok doesn't allow sharing explicit content, such as bedroom talks or steamy images, and doing so could result in a permanent ban on your account.
• Danger alert. Engaging in dangerous challenges on the platform could result in your social media account being shadowbanned.
• Bullying. TikTok aims to have a respectful, inclusive, and harassment-free community. Therefore, if you share threatening, abusive, or harassing behavior, your account could be banned.
• Hateful content. Any content that promotes hate or discrimination will cause you to be penalized.
• Inciting content. If your content on TikTok endorses or incites violent or extremist content, it could be shadowbanned.
• Violating copyrights. If you are posting another person's content without their permission, your content could be given a blackout.

Spam Content and Behavior

TikTok also considers more than just the video but also your behavior when deciding the content to penalize. If you are noted to have the following behavior, your account will be shadowbanned:

• Bot behaviour. Some behaviors will flag you as a bot. These can include spamming the TikTok feed and bulk-following accounts. Therefore, stay authentic to protect your account from being blacked out. When you engage third-party apps to grow your account, only do so from reputable sources of TikTok views.
• Trickster behavior. Avoid spreading misinformation or impersonating other people. Instead, remain true to your brand identity and what it stands for. Avoid any shady behavior that can misinform or mislead people.

Accidental Shadowbanning

There are times when TikTok will shadowban your account due to a misunderstanding. This could be due to errors in the TikTok algorithm.

How to Remove a TikTok Shadowban

If your TikTok account has been shadow-banned, you need to take the following steps to have it lifted:

• Delete the contravening video. If you suspect that one of your content has contravened one of the rules listed above, you need to remove it.
• Avoid spammy behavior. Consider your recent actions and see if there is anything the platform might consider spammy. For instance, have you been following other accounts in large numbers? Are you flooding the feed with so many videos? If you are engaging in one of these behaviors, stop it and keep your actions on the platform authentic.
• Troubleshooting your TikTok account. If the above steps don't help, you can try troubleshooting the app by uninstalling and reinstalling it to give yourself a fresh start.
• Be patient. In most cases, a TikTok shadowban lasts for one to two weeks. All you have to do is wait for that period to end and see if there is an improvement. You can also take it a step further and contact TikTok support to see if they can help. Don't tell them you have been shadowbanned if you choose these steps. Instead, let them know your followers can't see your videos.

Final Thoughts

A TikTok shadowban can be a frustrating experience. After all, it can undo all your efforts to increase your social media engagement and grow your TikTok account. That is why you need to understand the causes of shadowbanning and avoid them. If it happens, you can use the steps in our guide to overcome it.