Popular video-sharing platform TikTok has revised its Terms of Service to include stricter child protection measures following legal and advocacy efforts by Nigerian civic-tech organisation Citizens’ Gavel.
The new policies set to take effect from July 25, 2025, introduce reforms, including bans on exploitative content, tougher age restrictions, and enhanced content moderation systems.
Citizens’ Gavel had in February written to TikTok, demanding urgent reforms to protect children from sexual exploitation, mental health risks, and other online harms.
When the company failed to act within the stipulated time, the organisation filed Suit No. FHC/L/CS/517/2025 at the Federal High Court, Lagos.
Senior Legal Analyst, Citizens’ Gavel, Sylvester Agih, in a statement on Tuesday, said in response to the legal action, TikTok has now revised its user policies to include permanent bans on accounts promoting the sexualization, exploitation, or endangerment of minors.
“Users whose accounts were banned for violations will no longer be able to create new accounts. Also, there are now stricter age restrictions. Direct messaging is restricted to users 16+, while TikTok Live and virtual gifting are now limited to users 18+. Underage accounts will be actively identified and suspended or terminated.
“In addition is improved content moderation as TikTok will use tech-powered monitoring combined with human review teams to detect, flag, and remove harmful content promptly. The updated terms explicitly ban the posting, live streaming, or sharing of exploitative, illegal, or obscene content, particularly content that risks harm to minors”, the statement said.
The group noted that these changes directly respond to the demands it made regarding stronger content moderation, stricter age verification, removal of exploitative accounts, and improved monitoring systems.
“Citizens’ Gavel welcomes these updates as a step toward creating safer online spaces for children. But our work is far from over. We will closely track how TikTok enforces these new policies and continue to push for the demands that remain unmet.
“These include independent audits of TikTok’s child protection measures, stronger collaboration with law enforcement to hold offenders accountable, and the establishment of a dedicated TikTok Child Protection Task Force to identify and report cases of child abuse.
“Our commitment to protecting minors online remains unwavering. We will continue to hold digital platforms accountable to the highest standards of user safety,” the statement added.
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