If you are someone who uploads videos onto TikTok, you may wake up one day to find that one of your TikToks has been removed from the platform. This can be concerning, especially since having multiple videos removed can lead to your entire account being banned. Thankfully, filing an appeal to reinstate your video is possible, but how do you do this?
To submit an appeal on TikTok, open the app and tap the three lines icon in the top right corner. Next, select Settings & Privacy > Report a Problem > Account & Profile. On the Profile Page, select Other and then Need More Help. This should bring you to a page where you can file your appeal.
Now that you know how to submit an appeal on TikTok, you likely have other questions. For example, one of the most common questions we read is, “How long does it take for TikTok to respond to an appeal?” So let’s discuss this topic in more detail to help you get your videos or account back online.
What is the Purpose of an Appeal on TikTok?
An appeal on TikTok is meant to be used in case you are banned from the platform. Even though it may not seem like it sometimes, TikTok has community guidelines and rules you must follow to use the platform.
A few things can get you banned from TikTok, the most common being threats of violence and sexually explicit content.
Other things, such as promoting self-harm, glorifying illegal activities, and impersonating someone else, can also get you banned.
However, sometimes you will get banned on TikTok without doing anything that breaks the community guidelines. It is in this case that you would want to send an appeal to the TikTok team.
An appeal essentially lets TikTok know you think they’ve made a mistake in banning your account. Typically, this gets a member of the team to look at your account to make sure the decision to ban your account was correct. In some cases, a successful appeal can even get your account unbanned.
How Do You Send an Appeal on TikTok?
If you think you have been unfairly banned, sending an appeal on TikTok is pretty simple. But you will need to do this through the TikTok app.
- First, begin by opening the TikTok app on your phone.
- Once the app has opened, you will want to select your profile icon on the home screen.
- Next, tap on the three lines icon in the top right corner. Here, you’ll want to look for Settings & Privacy.
- Once you’ve located this section, scroll down, and you should see an option that says Report a Problem. Select this option.
- Next, you’ll want to click on Account and Profile and then the Profile Page.
- On this page, select Other and then click on Need More Help. Here, you will need to create a report detailing your issue; in this case, you need your account unbanned.
- Once you have finished typing your report, tap either Appeal or Report to submit the appeal. After this, all you can do is wait for a TikTok representative to respond to your appeal and hopefully restore your account.
Does TikTok Respond to Appeals?
Yes, TikTok usually responds to appeals. After you submit your appeal, the video you’re trying to appeal goes through a manual review process.
In this process, a TikTok moderator will view your video and determine whether or not the video breaks any of TikTok’s community guidelines. If it is found that your video does not violate any community guidelines, then TikTok will reinstate your video.
After this, you can view it again on the “For You” page.
However, suppose the video is manually reviewed and determined to have broken TikTok’s community guidelines. In that case, your video will remain down, and the penalties you received due to the video will remain (you will not be further penalized for a failed appeal, so there’s no harm in trying).
How Long Does an Appeal Usually Take?
Unfortunately, this question doesn’t have a consistent answer. Some readers have reported having their appeals responded to by TikTok within a couple of hours after the appeal was written, while others reported getting a response from TikTok up to a month later.
However, on average, most TikTok appeals are resolved in the first 24 hours.
Those that aren’t resolved in the first 24 hours are usually resolved in around 72 hours. So it seems like cases where the appeal process takes months are outliers, but if it happens to you, try contacting TikTok support.