Kenya, 4 November 2025 -Kenya has seen a marked increase in TikTok videos being removed from the platform this year due to violations of its community guidelines.
Between April and June 2025, TikTok took down 592,037 videos in the country, according to its 2nd Quarter Community Guidelines Enforcement Report (CGER).
The figures indicate persistent breaches of TikTok’s rules and highlight the ongoing challenge of moderating content on the platform, which has seen exponential growth in Kenya over the past few years.
Social media experts attribute the spike in removals to both the rapid increase in user-generated content and the heightened vigilance of TikTok’s automated moderation systems.
Globally, TikTok removed more than 189 million videos during the same period, representing only 0.7 percent of all content uploaded. Of these, 99.1percent were detected proactively, 94.4percent were removed within 24 hours, and 163.9 million videos were automatically taken down by AI systems.
The platform also took action against suspicious accounts, removing 76,991,660 fake accounts and 25,904,708 accounts suspected to belong to users under the age of 13.
While the majority of removed content falls under categories such as hate speech, sexual content, harassment, and misinformation, TikTok also continues to face challenges in detecting subtler violations, especially content involving minors or inappropriate trends.
Analysts warn that despite these efforts, children under 13 increasingly access unregulated material, raising serious concerns about online safety and digital wellbeing.
The surge in video removals in Kenya mirrors a broader global trend. Over the past two years, reports suggest that as TikTok’s user base grows, so does the number of videos flagged and removed.
Authorities and child protection advocates have emphasized the importance of parental supervision, digital literacy education, and stricter enforcement of age restrictions.
TikTok has maintained that proactive detection and AI-driven moderation are central to its strategy for keeping the platform safe.
The company also encourages users to report violations directly, reinforcing community involvement in content governance.
For Kenya, a country with one of the fastest-growing social media populations in Africa, the report underscores the need for collaborative measures between tech companies, regulators, and civil society to ensure that online platforms remain safe and responsible spaces for all users, especially children.
As social media continues to play an increasingly central role in communication, entertainment, and culture, the challenge remains: balancing the freedom to create and share content with the responsibility to protect vulnerable users.
