TikTok bans deadnaming, misgendering, and misogyny to build a secure platform

TikTok announced that it has updated its community guidelines to explicitly ban deadnaming, misgendering, and misogyny on its social media app, as part of its efforts to increase “safety, security and well-being” on its video sharing platform. The movement aims to add clarity on the types of hateful ideologies it prohibits on the platform.

“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.” the company said. 

TikTok said the updates to the guidelines will be implemented over the next few weeks. The update comes after some organizations have called on TikTok to provide clearer policies on acceptable language and activity in its app. GLAAD previously recommended that TikTok improve the enforcement of community guidelines and implement tools to reduce misinformation.

The company also announced that it will start to remove the promotion of disordered eating. TikTok already removes content that promotes eating disorders. 

“We’re making this change, in consultation with eating disorders experts, researchers, and physicians, as we understand that people can struggle with unhealthy eating patterns and behavior without having an eating disorder diagnosis. Our aim is to acknowledge more symptoms, such as overexercise or short-term fasting, that are frequently under-recognized signs of a potential problem.” TikTok explained.