UAE: TikTok removes over 1 million videos in Q1 2025 for policy violations

TL;DR:

• TikTok removed more than 1 million videos in the UAE in the first quarter of 2025 for violating community guidelines, with a 98.2% proactive removal rate and 94% taken down within 24 hours.
  
  
• The platform also banned nearly 87,000 live hosts and shut down over 140,000 livestreams in the UAE, as part of a wider safety campaign across the MENA region that saw more than 16.5 million videos removed.
  
  
• The company uses both automated systems and human moderation, supports appeals (over 41,000 UAE videos restored in Q1), and is expanding digital literacy campaigns and community education for safer online behaviour.

TikTok has intensified its content moderation across the Middle East, with the UAE seeing more than 1 million videos removed in the first three months of 2025 for breaching community guidelines. The figures, shared in the company’s Q1 2025 Community Guidelines Enforcement Report, highlight new heights of proactive moderation as the platform aims to ensure a safer and more responsible online environment.

Record removals in the UAE and MENA
From January to March 2025, TikTok took down 1,051,226 videos in the UAE alone for violating its standards, marking one of the highest enforcement levels among five covered MENA countries (UAE, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco). The UAE’s content removals were characterized by:

• A 98.2% proactive removal rate, indicating most objectionable content was detected and erased before it could be reported by users.
• 94% of these videos were removed within 24 hours, demonstrating TikTok’s emphasis on rapid response and platform integrity.
• The crackdown also extended to live content, with 86,790 live hosts banned and 140,295 livestreams interrupted during Q1 2025 in the UAE.

Across the broader MENA region, TikTok moderators and its AI tools removed a total of 16.5 million videos, alongside banning nearly 850,000 live hosts and terminating over 1.5 million livestreams.

Appeals and restorations
TikTok’s process allows content creators to appeal when they believe a video was wrongly removed. In the UAE, 41,148 challenged videos were restored following successful appeals in the first quarter, reflecting efforts to balance safety with user recourse. Iraq, which led the region in total removals, saw over 209,000 reinstated, while Egypt and Morocco reported 144,600 and 53,500 successful appeals respectively

How TikTok moderates content
The platform uses a combination of machine-learning detection systems and human moderation. Harmful and rule-violating videos are typically flagged and deleted before they appear in users’ feeds, especially those relating to hate speech, dangerous acts, illegal activity, and misinformation. Users receive notifications when their content is taken down and instructions on how to challenge the decision if they disagree.
Beyond enforcement, TikTok is expanding digital literacy campaigns in the MENA region, partnering with education bodies and advocacy groups to help users better understand safe content practices and reduce accidental rule-breaking. These initiatives aim to foster a culture of respect, safety, and compliance across the platform.

Country-by-Country overview

• UAE: 1,051,226 videos removed, 86,790 live hosts banned, 140,295 livestreams ended, 98.2% proactive removals, 94% within 24 hours, 41,148 appeals successful.
• Iraq: Over 10 million removals, 346,335 live hosts banned, 99.5% proactive, over 649,000 livestreams interrupted, 209,291 appeals successful.
• Egypt: 2.9 million removals, 347,935 live hosts banned, 144,605 appeals successful, 99.6% proactive.
• Morocco: Just over 1 million removals, 44,121 live hosts banned, 53,525 appeals successful.
• Lebanon: Nearly 1.35 million removals, 24,795 live hosts banned, 31,880 appeals successful.

TikTok’s Q1 report emphasizes its investment in advanced moderation technologies and steadfast dedication to promoting a “safe, respectful, and inclusive environment” for users across the region.
TikTok’s 2025 enforcement figures in the UAE reflect a determined, technology-driven approach to content regulation. With nearly all harmful and violative material proactively removed and a strong framework for appeals and digital safety, the social media giant is reinforcing its role as a responsible digital platform. As part of a regional focus, these measures are expected to shape a safer online space in the UAE and across the wider MENA community.

FAQ

• How many TikTok videos were removed in the UAE during Q1 2025?
  Over 1 million videos were taken down for violating community guidelines.
• What is TikTok’s proactive removal rate in the UAE?
  The platform recorded a 98.2% proactive removal rate, flagging and removing almost all harmful content before user reports.
• How quickly does TikTok remove violative content?
  94% of offending videos in the UAE were removed within 24 hours of being posted.
• Can users appeal TikTok’s content removal in the UAE?
  Yes, users can appeal. In Q1 2025, more than 41,000 videos were reinstated in the UAE after successful appeals.