Guide · checked against TikTok's published pages on November 10, 2026
Words and phrases that get TikTok Shop videos flagged
The words, numbers and visuals creators have actually been flagged for on TikTok Shop, collected from thousands of creator posts, with safer ways to say the same thing.
Short answer
TikTok's moderation reacts to words before it understands sentences. Health words and price talk cause most of the flags we see, with timelines and caption claim words close behind. Swap them for how something looks or feels to you, say prices exactly as shown, and keep product names short in captions.
On this page
TikTok doesn't publish a banned-words list. What exists instead is the record creators leave behind when they post "I got a violation for saying THIS?" We've analyzed thousands of those conversations and pulled out the words and visuals people say set off a flag.
Two warnings first. Read both. These are field reports, so some were false positives that a person would have cleared. They still cost points at the time, which is why we'd avoid them. And the list keeps moving, so this page gets updated.
Health and body words
This is the riskiest group by far, and the system reacts to the word itself. Even a sentence that disclaims a weight claim can trip it, because the word itself is what gets caught.
Words creators report being flagged for:
- weight loss, lose weight, fat, slimming, bloated
- anxiety and stress
- ADHD, and fear when talking about pets
- metabolism, digestion, detox
- naming a diagnosis or a symptom, even about yourself, which can cost 30 points
- "biohacking," "turn back time," and youth language next to supplements
Safer swaps people use: "feeling puffy" for bloated, "I feel more settled" in place of anything about anxiety. Talk about your routine, not your body's chemistry.
Visuals count too. Close-ups of skin problems and needles have drawn flags, and so have shots of toenail fungus or a pet's irritated belly. A doctor in a white coat promoting a health product is risky whether the doctor is real or AI-made.
Price talk
Price is the most common category in our records. TikTok's rule: round up, never down. Your price also has to match the showcase at posting. The flags people get usually come from these:
- "under $50 with coupons" stated as fact
- monthly or daily math, like "$7 a month" for a bottle
- "retails for $80" or "I paid $22 for mine"
- "cheapest price" and "triple discount, ends tonight"
- showing a flash-sale banner after the sale ended
Numbers that aren't prices get misread too. An age is the classic example. If that happens, appeal. Say what the number really was. More on this in our misleading price guide.
Timelines and promises
Anything with a deadline reads as a guaranteed result. "Results by the holidays." "Results in 7 days." "Two inches a month." Absolutes do the same, so watch "100% effective" and "never forget anything."
TikTok allows a timeline only with an approved disclaimer, like "Results after 4 weeks of consistent use. Individual results may vary."
Words in your caption
Typed text gets checked as closely as speech. Creators have been flagged for typing a product's full name when the name itself holds a claim word such as "firming," even though they never said the claim out loud. Product names that name a condition, like a "wrinkle cream" or a bumpy-skin "smoother," cause the same trouble. Use a short version of the name in captions.
Hashtags count as well, including ingredient hashtags for products TikTok restricts.
Things that read as off-platform
Pointing at the screen and telling viewers to click has been read as sending traffic away. So has naming a brand's own website on LIVE. Keep everything inside TikTok's own cart and links.
Sexual or suggestive
Some of these surprise people. Ingredient names that sound sexual have been flagged. So have slang terms for intimate areas. Chest-focused camera angles and skin-tight try-ons get flagged as well. Intimate-care brands see "low quality" and nudity flags often; framing the video as education is what TikTok's Community Guidelines allow, and a caption or voiceover that says so helps.
Officially fine
A few things creators worry about are explicitly allowed. TikTok's pages say claims printed on the packaging can be shown on camera, real temporary debloating demos are fine, and so are products that go alongside GLP-1 use, as long as you don't name a drug.
What we get asked
Is there an official banned-words list?
No. TikTok publishes rules about claims and topics, not a word list. Everything above comes from what creators were flagged for.
Can I spell words differently to get around the filter?
Don't. TikTok's guides treat coded words and emojis standing in for a claim as the claim itself. Rephrase the idea instead.
If I was flagged for one of these, should I appeal?
Usually yes when it was a misread: a number that wasn't a price, a word used in an unrelated sense, or a product name. Quote the line and explain it.
Know someone stuck on the same thing? Send them this page. Members can also get a personal invite link with /refer in our Discord, and every friend who joins and stays earns you a free product report.