Inclusion and Belonging Guide
Updated: May 21, 2024
On TikTok, we're building a global community where all are welcome and safe to be their authentic selves. Together with input from experts and a diversity of community members, we have designed this guide to share tools and resources for people of all backgrounds to have equal access to a joyful experience. Our commitment to building a more inclusive platform is ongoing, and we look forward to expanding these resources in the future.
Shaping Your Authentic Experience
We want everyone to feel comfortable expressing themselves just as they are. We also empower people to build the community and content environment that helps them feel the most welcome. On TikTok, you can shape your experiences by:
Customizing your For You feed:
- Not interested: Long-press on videos that don't interest you and select "Not interested" to see less of that type of content in the future.
- Refresh: You can refresh your For You feed if your recommendations no longer feel relevant and view content as if you just signed up for TikTok.
- Keyword filter: Filter videos with selected words or hashtags from your For You and Following feeds.
- Find community through hashtags like #LGBT and #accessibility.
Expressing Yourself:
- Add a nickname.
- Choose from a diverse array of avatars.
- Turn on creator captions and personalize the font style and color.
Share your own pronouns, so others know how to refer to you with ease, specificity, and care. You can add up to four pronouns from a pre-selected list on your profile. These can be edited or removed at any time and you can choose whether people who don't follow you can see your pronouns by making your account private or public.
- To add your pronouns, click into your Profile Icon at the bottom right of your account --> Set up Profile --> Pronouns --> Add pronouns
We have a number of tools to support accessibility for your videos on TikTok. Learn more about Adjusting Text Size, Auto-generated captions, and Text-to-speech in our Help Center.
You can also learn more about Animated Thumbnails and Photosensitivity features in our Help Center as well as on our Accessibility Page. Access these settings by clicking into your Profile Icon at the bottom right of your account -->Settings and Privacy --> Accessibility.
Other helpful viewing tips include:
- Mute on Opening: Ensure videos are muted by default when you open TikTok
- To mute on opening, click into your Profile Icon at the bottom right of your account --> Settings and privacy --> Playback
- Clear Display: Focus solely on content by hiding the menu buttons while a video is playing
- To use clear mode, long press on the video --> Clear Display
- Change playback speed: Adjust the speed of video playback, allowing you to slow down or speed up
- To change playback speed, long press on the video --> Playback speed
- Captions: Turn on creator captions and your video's speech audio will automatically be transcribed into text. You have the option to change the font style and color. You can also edit your captions to ensure they are accurate, as well as include any relevant details such as identifying who is speaking or describing any sounds.
- To show captions, long press on the video --> Captions --> Show captions
Taking Action Against Hate & Exploitation
Our Community Guidelines, the rules for being on TikTok, prohibit hateful behavior, hate speech, and bullying. We enforce our policies through a combination of technology and safety professionals. We're transparent about the types of content we don't allow, so people know how to follow our rules and what type of behavior they should report to us.
Reports from our community are an important part of how we protect against harm. If you decide to report a Community Guidelines violation, you can feel safe knowing that TikTok does not disclose your identity to the person whose content or account you’re reporting. We'll also keep you informed about the status of your report.
- If you see content on TikTok that you believe violates our policies, please report it to us.
- If another user is creating an unsafe environment on TikTok, you can report them.
Visit our Reporting Page to learn more about what happens after a report is submitted.
TikTok's Community Guidelines apply to everyone and everything on our platform. Below are a few that may be particularly relevant to the LGBTQ+ community:
- We don't allow content that includes a hateful slur or attacks a person or group on the basis of their gender, gender identity, sex, or sexual orientation. Learn more here.
- We prohibit intentional misgendering or deadnaming. Learn more here.
- We do not allow content that promotes or advertises "conversion therapy" programs or services. Learn more here.
- We don't permit degrading or vulgar statements about a person's intimate body parts. Learn more here.
- We do not allow sharing (or threatening to share) details about a person’s private sexual life, including sexual history and sexual orientation, sextortion, or image-based sexual abuse. Learn more here.
TikTok's Community Guidelines apply to everyone and everything on our platform. Below are a few that may be particularly relevant to people with disabilities.
- We don't allow content that promotes segregation, discrimination, violence, or other harm on the basis of disability.
- We don't permit content that demeans someone on the basis of disability by saying or implying they are inferior in any way.
- We prohibit content that includes a hateful slur or degrades a person or group on the basis of disability.
View the Hate Speech and Hateful Behavior section of our Community Guidelines to learn more.
Respecting Your Privacy
We recognize that feeling welcome and safe on our platform requires having control over who sees your account and content. We provide our community with control over their online presence by offering a range of privacy settings:
- Learn how to make your account public or private here.
- Learn more about your video privacy settings here.
- Learn more about the information and signals we use to recommend content on For You feeds here.
- Learn more about what information we do and do not collect here.
Visit TikTok's Privacy Center to learn more.
TikTok does not collect sexual orientation information. Learn more about what information we collect here.
If you choose to share information about your identity such as sexual orientation or gender identity in your bio, videos, or other content, you can use our privacy tools to manage who, if anyone, can see that information. This includes the option to remove it entirely.
TikTok does not collect information about disability or chronic conditions. Learn more about what information we collect here.
If you choose to share information about your identity, such as any disabilities, impairments, or chronic conditions, in your bio, videos, or other content, you can use our privacy tools to manage who, if anyone, can see that information. This includes the option to remove it entirely.
Deciding Who Can Engage with You
People connect on TikTok in many different ways—from comments to direct messages to Duets and Stitches. To support kind and respectful interactions, we offer tools and settings that empower people to decide who can engage with them and their content:
- Decide who can send you Direct Messages [learn more]
- Manage comments on your content using keyword filters and comment settings [learn more]
- Remove and block followers [learn more]
- Choose who can duet and stitch your content [learn more]
- Control who can download your videos [learn more]
Our Comment Care Mode setting provides stronger protection for those who need additional support in managing their comments. When enabled, Comment Care Mode automatically filters comments we think are similar to those that you've previously reported or deleted and comments that are inappropriate, offensive or contain profanity.
Note: Comment Care Mode is currently available in select regions.