Creating a social network is simple, so simple in fact even former presidents are doing it. While the creation of the platform is simple, creating a community that drives growth in a meaningful way is not.

Despite all the mocking and jokes about TikTok, the platform has worked hard to make itself as inclusive as possible while prioritising safety and authenticity as well. As such, TikTok is constantly updating its Community Guidelines so as to insure that when it comes to content moderation, everybody knows what is and what isn’t allowed on the platform.

The latest update to the TikTok Community Guidelines includes changes to its dangerous acts and challenges policy as well as clarification on the types of hateful ideologies prohibited on the platform.

“This includes deadnaming, misgendering, or misogyny as well as content that supports or promotes conversion therapy programs. Though these ideologies have long been prohibited on TikTok, we’ve heard from creators and civil society organizations that it’s important to be explicit in our Community Guidelines. On top of this, we hope our recent feature enabling people to add their pronouns will encourage respectful and inclusive dialogue on our platform,” writes head of trust and safety at TikTok, Cormac Keenan.

This is, to our minds, a rather important update especially in the transgender and non-binary communities on TikTok. Creators from those communities are routinely targeted through hateful comments and worse so it’s great to see TikTok call out specifics hateful acts here.

TikTok is also broadening its approach to eating disorders. Content that promotes overexcercise or short-term fasting among other symptoms of an eating disorder can now be removed. While TikTok consulted researchers, physicians and other experts, it recognises this area is tricky to police.

“Our aim is to acknowledge more symptoms, such as overexercise or short-term fasting, that are frequently under-recognized signs of a potential problem. This is an incredibly nuanced area that’s difficult to consistently get right, and we’re working to train our teams to remain alert to a broader scope of content,” says Keenan.

You can read more about the Community Guideline updates here.

What is fascinating however is how well TikTok’s automated systems work to remove content that violates its policies.

“Our most recent report, published today, shows that over 91 million violative videos were removed during Q3 2021, which is around 1 percent of all videos uploaded. Of those videos, 95.1 percent were removed before a user reported it, 88.8 percent before the video received any views, and 93.9 percent within 24 hours of being posted,” Keenan writes.

It’s good to see TikTok drawing a hardline in the sand as regards hateful content. Creating an inclusive community is no easy feat and we commend TikTok for making the effort.