TikTok Shadowbans: Explained by an Actual Creator

I am sick and tired of articles written by non-content creators who give advice only a content creator would know. So, as a content creator with over 1 million followers on TikTok (@dylantate), I’m here to give the best advice on everything I know about shadowbans on TikTok.

So you’ve been shadowbanned on TikTok, now what? Well, there’s a good chance that you probably aren’t. Most creators who jump to the ‘I’ve been shadowbanned’ accusation don’t realize there are several other possible culprits for their sudden drop in views. 

It’s so much easier to blame a shadowban over anything else. However, no matter the situation, there is still hope for turning that view drought around.

Let’s break down a shadowban first. A shadowban is a form of blocking/hiding a user's content without their knowledge, typically by making their posts and comments no longer visible to other users. 

Why would TikTok do this? TikTok’s goal as a social media platform is to keep the consumer on its platform as long as possible. In doing so, it needs to deter all forms of media that would make people exit the app or harm their image. This includes the obvious, including hate speech, scams, engagement bots, mature content, etc. Most of these extreme violations would give the user an immediate ban and deactivation. 

However, in some less drastic cases, TikTok will hit an account with a shadowban. TikTok has never publicly admitted to the existence of a shadowban, but it's most definitely there, as it’s hard not to notice it when an account receives one.

Before showing you what a shadowban actually looks like, let’s get familiar with how TikTok’s algorithm functions. No matter how small an account is, every video on TikTok is guaranteed to get views from the For You Page. It’s how the algorithm works, as it needs to feed the video to an audience to determine if it’s worth further sharing. These guaranteed views range anywhere from 100 to 900 views from the FYP in the first 24 to 48 hours. 

Now, how can I tell if I actually got shadowbanned? In most shadowban cases, videos will hardly reach 100 views with very low engagement rates. Your posts are still visible on your profile, but they aren’t being pushed to the main FYP feed. 

The view count depends on multiple factors, including the user's number of followers. For example, large creators get a lot of profile views from previous videos. 

A good way to tell if you’re shadowbanned is if there’s suddenly a massive view count drop visible in multiple videos going forward. 

Another indicator is in the video's analytics tab. The “For You” traffic source type would have the smallest percentage of traffic, if not near zero. 

If even one recently posted video has a significant amount of views, then you probably aren’t shadowbanned. Shadowbans are very noticeable and will last several days to several weeks. 

How can I get un-shadowbanned? You’ve probably scrolled past all the text above, looking for this magical sacred text. The short answer is patience. The first step is realizing what you did to get shadowbanned. Most users who get un-shadowbanned end up re-shadowbanning themselves again, not realizing what they did wrong. 

Here are the major do’s and don’ts from my experience:

• DO NOT use other alternate accounts on your same device or IP to boost the engagement of your posts. 
• DO NOT reupload videos you or someone else has already uploaded without significantly changing the video, even if the original video is deleted. 
• DO NOT mass delete posts. If you want to remove them, set them to private.
• DO NOT use hate speech, violence, mature terms, or anything else against TikTok’s TOS in comments, descriptions, videos, etc. 

There is no switch or appeal to get un-shadowbanned. Waiting out the storm is the best option. Shadowbans last, on average, from a couple of days to 1 to 2 weeks. The only way to tell if you have gotten un-shadowbanned is to upload and test the waters. Please be mindful of the tips above to avoid it happening again.

If you’ve gotten this far and nothing above applies to you, then congrats; you’re most likely not shadowbanned. Sooo, what is wrong with my view count, then? Well, chances are — and I say this as respectfully as possible — it’s your content. There are so many different possibilities, from posting videos that are different from your usual content to just sharing an overall bad video that doesn’t please the TikTok algorithm. 

Making the right type of content is a whole other story for another day. I’ve had my fair share of videos I’ve uploaded, thinking they were the best in the world, only to look back months later in absolute disgust. That’s the best possible outcome for you because you can only go up from there. 

Avoid asking for advice from your friends/family on your videos. They’ll only say nice things about it to avoid hurting your feelings and you won’t receive the constructive criticism that you need. Instead, find other creators in your niche, reach out to them, and ask for advice. 

One of my favorite things is to help and learn from others in my field, thus the reason for this article. Many more to come.

If you think you are shadowbanned or have your own take on shadowbanning we'd love to hear from you [email protected]

Update: Bloomberg reports that TikTok will be back on the App Store and Google Play Store starting February 13, 2025, following its temporary ban and removal on January 19, 2025. This comes after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi directed Apple and Alphabet to reinstate the app.