TikTok Shop's creator content guidelines require every shoppable video, photo and LIVE to show the exact product you link, describe it accurately, keep buyers inside TikTok Shop, stay original and avoid medical, weight-loss and exaggerated claims. Each breach can cost points on your Creator Health Rating, and repeated or serious breaches can remove your e-commerce access. The US and UK versions differ in places, so check which one governs your account.
This guide reads the two rulebooks side by side, adds the advertising-law layer that TikTok's pages only touch on, flags where TikTok's own pages contradict each other, and ends with a pre-post checklist and a table that matches each kind of warning to a sensible response.
Which rulebook applies to your account
TikTok Shop publishes a content policy per market. The US Content Policy is labelled as applying to the United States and covers LIVEs, videos, images and titles promoted on TikTok Shop. The TikTok Shop UK Content Policy applies to sellers and creators posting e-commerce content on TikTok in the UK. Both sit on top of TikTok's Community Guidelines, which are enforced separately, and on top of the advertising law where your viewers live.
The US policy defines content widely. It lists spoken statements, on-screen text, clothing, props, gestures, voiceovers, usernames and personal introductions alongside the video itself, so a slogan on a shirt or an item in the background can be the problem. The UK policy goes further in one respect: it counts the product detail page, including the price, as part of e-commerce content.
If you have not joined yet, eligibility comes first and is covered in the guide on how to become a TikTok Shop affiliate. Sellers face a parallel set of listing rules; if you are weighing up a shop of your own, see TikTok Shop creator vs seller.
What every shoppable post has to do
- Show the product you link. The US policy calls it irrelevant promotion when the product in the video is missing from the landing page, is not fully shown, or does not match the listing.
- Keep buyers on TikTok Shop. Both policies bar links, phone numbers, social handles, email addresses and QR codes that send viewers elsewhere to buy.
- Make it yours. The UK policy prohibits reuploads with limited creative changes and pre-recorded video or audio played during a LIVE; the US policy names a visible watermark as a sign of unoriginal content.
- Stay present. Both treat content where you never speak, appear or demonstrate the product as low quality, and the UK policy names slideshows and looping footage in LIVEs.
- State price conditions. The US policy allows prices and discounts only when they are accurate, current and reachable through the link, with conditions such as coupons, selected variants or minimum spend disclosed.
- Keep AI honest. The US policy requires AI-generated content to match the real product in size, colour, material, quantity and performance, and TikTok's US Creator and Content Policy Guide asks creators to disclose content that is fully generated or significantly edited with AI.
Claims that get content removed: US and UK compared
Most violations come down to what you say about the product. The two policies agree on the broad shape but not on every line, which matters if your audience spans both markets.
| Claim type | US Content Policy | UK Content Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Medical | Claims that a product cures serious conditions, or addresses conditions that need expert-supervised treatment, are prohibited | No claims to cure, heal, treat or prevent illness, including before-and-after images |
| Weight | High-risk claims such as quantified or timed weight-loss promises are banned; general low-risk content for adults is allowed and sports equipment is exempt | All weight-loss e-commerce content is prohibited; fitness and wellness products may be promoted, but not as weight-loss products |
| Comparisons | Unsupported or disparaging comparisons with other products, brands or sites are banned | Any comparison of the product with another product is prohibited |
| Price and deals | Unsupported “lowest price” or “cheapest price” claims are banned | No misleading prices or discounts, and no false claims that a product will soon stop being sold |
| Sympathy and charity | Claims of financial hardship, or that proceeds will go to a cause, are banned | Promoting products by evoking sympathy is banned |
| Environmental | No separate section in the Content Policy | Green claims must be backed by verifiable evidence; generic claims are not allowed |
| Food and supplements | No medicinal claims; general health claims need documents or certification from a qualified health professional | General health claims must come with a specific approved claim from the Great Britain Nutrition and Health Claims Register |
| Minors | Minors must not endorse products, and content must not persuade minors to buy | Minors must not promote products or appear alone in e-commerce content |
Both columns summarise the US Content Policy and the UK Content Policy as published on 1 October 2026; the full pages list more categories, including detailed alcohol rules in the UK version. Prohibited and restricted products sit in separate product policies, and the US policy also controls showing drugs or nicotine products in content even when you are not selling them.
Disclosure: TikTok's setting and the law behind it
Shoppable posts are advertising, and the duty to say so comes from two places. TikTok's page About the Commercial Content Disclosure setting for creators, last updated April 2026, says you must turn the setting on when content promotes a brand, product or service, and that undisclosed commercial content may lose eligibility for the For You feed. The UK Content Policy adds that the commercial nature of e-commerce content must always be obviously identifiable, and that content must not give the impression you are an ordinary customer.
The law sets the floor. In the US, the FTC's Endorsement Guides FAQ tells affiliate marketers to disclose the relationship clearly and conspicuously, says a “buy now” button is not an adequate disclosure, and suggests a continuous disclosure throughout a livestream to be on the safe side. By that reasoning, the shopping link on a shoppable video does not by itself tell viewers you are paid. In the UK, the ASA's affiliate marketing advice says the CAP Code applies to affiliate content and that a short social post featuring a brand you are an affiliate for is likely to be treated as an ad in its entirety. A spoken line such as “I earn commission if you buy through this link” plus a written label is a reasonable baseline for both audiences; check your own regulator's guidance if you post elsewhere.
How violations are scored
Both markets score creators on a Creator Health Rating. The US Creator and Content Policy Guide describes it as a score from 0 to 1,000 that repeated TikTok Shop content violations push down, while Community Guidelines violations are handled separately and do not affect it. The UK Creator Performance Evaluation Policy adds that every new creator starts at 200 points, that deductions reset after 90 days, and that points earned through compliant content or policy quizzes stay valid for 90 days.
The penalties at the low milestones are where the documents drift. The US guide, dated 14 August 2026, describes 3, 7 and 14 days without shoppable videos, LIVEs or showcase additions at 150, 100 and 50 points, with campaign access lost at each step and possible permanent removal of e-commerce permissions at 0. The UK policy sets e-commerce permission restrictions of 3, 7 and 14 days across the same bands. TikTok's standalone US Creator Health Rating page was offline on 1 October 2026, and versions of it published earlier this year described different milestone penalties, so treat the notice in your app as the binding version.
Points are not the only trigger. The US Creator Enforcement Policy says a creator who commits the same violation 6 times within 90 days may lose e-commerce permissions immediately and have commissions frozen, whatever the CHR score. A separate score rates product choice rather than penalties: the US Promotion Performance Score runs from 0 to 5 and blends product selection with content quality, and the UK equivalent, Promotion Quality Points, uses a 0 to 5 scale based on shop and product ratings. How commission is normally calculated and settled is covered in the TikTok Shop affiliate commission guide.
Violation-to-response table
Match the notice you received to the row, then act on the response column before you post again.
| What you see | What it means | Response | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 reminder during a LIVE | A minor issue was detected; only the host sees it | Correct it on the spot and carry on | Guide to LIVE Content Warnings |
| Level 2 warning during a LIVE | A repeat; the linked product may be removed and violation points issued | Drop the behaviour for the rest of the stream and keep only the exact products you present in the showcase | Guide to LIVE Content Warnings |
| Level 3 interruption | Severe or repeated violation; the LIVE ends | Read the LIVE summary and Account Standing before going LIVE again | Guide to LIVE Content Warnings |
| First-time warning | Logged without affecting your CHR | Fix the pattern in your next posts; repeats start costing points | US Creator Enforcement Policy |
| Points deducted | Your CHR falls; deductions reset after 90 days | Take the policy quiz if one is offered, appeal if the call was wrong, and re-check similar posts | How to Submit Creator Appeals |
| CHR at 199 or below | Warning band, one step from milestone enforcement | Slow down, pre-check every video and read the personalised Account Health Report TikTok reminds you about each week | US Creator and Content Policy Guide; US Creator Enforcement Policy |
| Commission frozen (US) | Tied to a Creator Terms of Use violation; an agency's commission split may be blocked too | Appeal within 30 calendar days of enforcement, or the frozen amount may be forfeited | US Creator Enforcement Policy |
| Payout withheld (UK) | Amounts linked to suspected violations, held for up to 90 days or until the investigation ends | Appeal within the timeframe in the notice; a successful appeal releases the amount | UK Creator Performance Evaluation Policy |
| Permissions permanently revoked (UK) | TikTok Shop UK says permanently revoked permission cannot be restored | Stop shoppable content on that account; eligibility rules also count your previous accounts, so a new account does not reset it | UK e-commerce permissions status; UK eligibility policy |
LIVE shopping has a second layer of limits that come from TikTok LIVE rather than TikTok Shop, such as age-restricted or unoriginal LIVE content. Those labels and their appeals are explained in the guide to TikTok LIVE recommendation restrictions.
Appeals that hold up
TikTok's US page on how to submit creator appeals allows one appeal per violation within 30 calendar days of the notice, says TikTok Shop will decide within 7 business days, and asks you to keep the video public while the appeal is reviewed; the Creator Enforcement Policy adds that milestone enforcement actions cannot be appealed. The UK Appeal Guidelines for Creators allow one appeal per violation within the timeframe in the notice, say TikTok Shop aims to respond within 7 working days, and warn you not to delete the video while the appeal is under review, because reviewers need to see it.
Evidence decides appeals. For an unoriginal-content notice, the US and UK appeal pages both ask for photos showing you in the filming setting, the background, a physical product you used and your filming equipment, or a signed authorisation letter from the original creator; the UK page adds that screenshots of the post are not enough, and the US page asks for documents in English. For counterfeit or trademark notices, the UK guidelines ask for brand authorisation, trade mark certificates or purchase invoices. Keep a folder per product holding the sample receipt, any brand permission to show its logo, and a photo of your setup on the day you filmed.
Pre-post checklist for shoppable videos and LIVEs
- The product on screen is the exact item, variant and bundle in the link.
- You show it in use and talk to the viewer, rather than letting a still image or loop carry the post.
- Every claim is one you could back with evidence, with no cure, treatment or weight-loss promises.
- Any price or discount is current, reachable through the link, and its conditions are stated.
- No comparisons with other products in UK content, and none that are unsupported or disparaging in US content.
- No links, handles, QR codes or phone numbers that move buyers off TikTok Shop.
- Nothing in frame needs permission you do not have: another creator's footage, a brand's logo, or someone else's name or likeness.
- AI edits match the real product, and heavily AI-made content is labelled.
- Your commission is disclosed out loud and on screen, and the commercial content disclosure setting is on.
- No minors promote the product, and nothing in the post is aimed at them.
- For US videos, the final edit has been through the Video Pre-Check tool. Its guide says creators get at least five checks a day with results in about 10 minutes, while the page's own summary gives two, so go by the counter in the tool, and treat a clean result as a screen, not clearance.
Limits of this guide
This guide covers the US and UK TikTok Shop pages as read on 1 October 2026; other markets publish their own versions and are not covered. TikTok Shop edits these pages often, and as the milestone example shows, two official pages can describe the same rule differently, so the notice in your app and the newest page for your market take priority over this summary.
It is general information, not legal advice. If you promote health, food, alcohol or financial products, or a regulator, brand or buyer contacts you about a claim, speak to a qualified adviser. No checklist can promise that a post will pass review or earn commission.