Many brands have embraced TikTok for business, although some are seeing more results than others. But if your content isn’t landing, it might not be that you’ve missed the mark. You could be facing a shadowban.
New data from TikTok shows a staggering 73% of business accounts have been affected by shadowbanning, often without realising it.
While it’s not entirely in your control, there are steps you can take to recover from it or avoid it altogether. And it matters if you want to avoid wasted ad spend and stunted growth.
What is a shadowban—and why should you care?
Have you ever experienced a sudden, unexplained drop in views, likes, and comments? You might be dealing with a shadow ban.
Shadowbanning is when a platform quietly suppresses your posts without formally banning your account. It’s an invisible penalty, and officially called “algorithmic visibility limits”. It’s been reported across Instagram and TikTok, and has a big impact on platform analytics.
Shadow bans mean your content will be less likely to appear in the ‘For You’ page, reducing your reach and the expansion of your audience. It can also have a catastrophic impact on your views and engagement. In some cases, shadowbanned accounts can experience a 90% drop in engagement, according to a report from Sociallyin.
Why do accounts get shadowbanned?
The root cause of shadowbanning is tied to violations of platform rules. If you have broken, or been perceived to break, Community Guidelines then your account may be impacted.
Here are some examples of shadow ban-inducing behaviour in social media marketing:
- Inappropriate content: anything TikTok deems NSFW, offensive, or dangerous
- Spammy behaviour: repetitive posts, mass following/unfollowing, excessive hashtags, or automation
- Copyright violations: using unlicensed music, copying content from other creators
- Misinformation: posting political hot takes or sharing unverified claims
Keith Kakadia, CEO and Founder of Sociallyin, explains: “Shadowbans are like a slow leak in your marketing pipeline. You keep pouring money into content, but you’re losing reach, engagement, and ROI—and most brands don’t realise it until it’s too late.”
How do I know if I’ve been shadowbanned?
There’s no official notification, but there are signs.
The major tell that you’ve been hit with a shadow ban will be a sudden drop in views and engagement. If your usual target audience seems to vanish overnight and your likes, comments, shares, and saves dwindle, shadowbanning could be the cause.
Other signs include:
- Your videos no longer appear on the For You page,
- A banner in your video insights saying: “Your video is not eligible for recommendation in the For You feed,”
- You’re posting regularly, but nothing is gaining traction.
It’s easy to misread this as a content or algorithm issue. But if you’re shadowbanned, no amount of reworking your creative strategy will help until the ban lifts. Typically, shadowbans last 14-30 days, though their effects can stick around longer if not addressed.
How to avoid (or recover from) shadowbans
“The good news is recovery is often faster than people expect,” adds Kakadia. To recover from a shadow ban or avoid one completely, here are some practical tips from Sociallyin:
- Audit your content frequently to ensure it aligns with TikTok’s Community Guidelines
- Avoid repetitive, keyword-stuffed hashtags
- Ditch third-party automation tools that promise fast engagement
- Engage with your target audience in real time
- Mix up your content formats with Lives, Stories, and varied video styles
- Monitor insights to spot sudden drops early
- Clear your app cache and make sure TikTok is updated to the latest version
If you’re still struggling to recover, we recommend consulting a social media strategist or agency. There’s too much at stake to ignore a shadow ban.
TikTok for SMEs is booming this year. Despite concerns around shadowbanning, it remains one of the most powerful marketing tools for small businesses to expand their audiences. Many smaller brands have already gone viral on the platform.
In April, TikTok introduced its first-ever “SME Council” for small brands that sell through the app. It’s a clear sign the platform is taking smaller players seriously, offering them a seat at the table alongside bigger brands.
