How to Add a Moderator on TikTok

Going LIVE on TikTok is a rush, but as your audience grows, so does the chaos in the comment section. Trying to host an engaging stream while playing whack-a-mole with spammy comments and trolls is exhausting. This guide shows you exactly how to add moderators on TikTok, step-by-step, so you can protect your community and focus on what you do best: creating great content.

Why Bother with Moderators on TikTok LIVE?

You might think of moderators as just bouncers for your chat, but they play a much bigger role in building a successful community. When you have trusted people helping you out, you unlock a few powerful benefits that directly impact your stream's quality and your sanity.

Keep the Vibe Positive and Safe

The number one job of a moderator is to be a guardian of your community's culture. They are your first line of defense against hate speech, spam links, excessive self-promotion, and general negativity. A moderated chat becomes a welcoming space where your true fans feel comfortable participating. When people know the space is safe from harassment, they're more likely to stick around, engage, and come back for your next stream.

Manage the Flood of Comments

Once you have hundreds or thousands of viewers, it's impossible to read every single comment that flies by. You’ll miss important questions, shoutouts from loyal supporters, and genuine interactions. Moderators act as your filter. While they can't pin comments for you on TikTok (that power is yours alone), they can answer frequently asked questions repeatedly, welcome new people, and signal important comments to you so you can address them. They help manage the flow so the best parts of the conversation rise to the top.

Let You Focus on Your Content

Every second your attention is on deleting a hateful comment is a second you're not performing, teaching, or connecting with your wider audience. Constantly policing your own chat pulls you out of the zone and degrades the quality of your LIVE. Handing that responsibility over to moderators frees you up mentally and emotionally. You can relax into your content, knowing that someone has your back, which ultimately leads to a better, more professional, and more engaging stream for everyone.

Build a Stronger Community

Appointing moderators from your existing audience is a powerful way to show you value your most loyal fans. It turns passive viewers into active stakeholders in your community's success. Your moderators become leaders and ambassadors for your brand. They model positive behavior, answer questions with the same tone you would, and make other viewers feel seen. This collaborative effort makes the entire community feel more tight-knit and connected.

The Easy Way: How to Add Moderators *Before* You Go LIVE

The smoothest way to run a stream is to have your moderation team ready before you even hit the "Go LIVE" button. This ensures you have support from the very first second your stream is active. Here’s how to set it up.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Open TikTok: Launch the app and tap the plus (+) icon at the bottom of the screen, just like you’re creating any new content.
2. Navigate to the LIVE Screen: At the bottom of the content creation menu, swipe right past "Camera" and "Templates" until you land on the "LIVE" option.
3. Access Your Settings: Before you hit the big red "Go LIVE" button, look for the icons on the right side of the screen. Tap on "Settings."
4. Find the Moderators Menu: Inside the Settings menu, you'll see a list of options. Tap on the one labeled "Moderators." This is your moderation HQ.
5. Add Your Moderators: On this screen, you’ll see a large plus icon next to "Moderators." Tap it to add people. TikTok will suggest friends you can add. You can scroll through this list or use the search bar at the top to find specific people. Important: To make someone a moderator, you must be following them and they must be following you back. You cannot moderate for someone you aren’t mutuals with.
6. Confirm Your Choices: Simply tap the red "Add" button next to the name of each person you want to appoint. They will be added to your moderator list for all future LIVEs until you remove them. You can add up to 20 moderators.

Once you’ve added them, you can exit the settings and start your stream with the peace of mind that your team is ready to go.

On-the-Fly Moderation: Adding Mods *During* a LIVE Stream

Sometimes you need to react in the moment. Maybe a loyal follower is doing an amazing job of helping others in the chat, and you want to reward them. Or perhaps your stream suddenly goes viral and you need immediate backup. TikTok makes it easy to appoint a moderator right in the middle of a broadcast.

Here's How to Do It:

1. Identify Your Candidate: While you're LIVE, keep an eye on the comment stream and find the user you want to grant moderator powers to.
2. Tap Their Profile: Simply tap on their username or profile picture right there in the live chat log.
3. Open the Management Menu: A small pop-up window will appear showing their profile summary. Tap on the "Manage" button.
4. Appoint as Moderator: A final menu will present you with moderation options. Tap "Add as moderator."

That person will immediately receive moderator privileges for the remainder of your stream. It's a fantastic way to instantly empower helpful members of your community and show them you see and appreciate their contributions.

The Moderator Toolkit: What Can Your Mods Actually Do?

Giving someone moderation powers doesn't give them the keys to your entire TikTok account. Their permissions are specific to managing the chat during your LIVE streams. It's helpful for both you and your new mods to understand what they can - and can't - do.

Key Moderator Powers:

• Mute Viewers: If a user is being disruptive, but doesn't necessarily warrant a full block, a moderator can mute them. This temporarily revokes their ability to comment for a duration of their choosing, from a few seconds to several minutes. The muted user can still watch the stream, but they can no longer spam the chat.
• Block Viewers: For more severe problems like hate speech, persistent trolling, or posting dangerous content, a moderator can block the user. This removes the person from the current LIVE stream and automatically blocks them from joining any of your future streams. This is the most powerful tool for keeping the community safe.
• Report Comments: Mods can report comments that violate TikTok’s Community Guidelines, helping keep the platform safer as a whole.

It's equally important to know the limitations. TikTok moderators cannot: end your stream, pin comments, change your stream settings, adjust your beauty filters, or view any of your account information. Their role is entirely focused on community management within the chat.

Who Should You Give the Mod Sword To? Choosing Wisely

Appointing a moderator is an act of trust. These individuals represent you and have the power to shape your community's experience. Giving this power to the wrong person can cause more harm than good, so it's worth being thoughtful about who you choose.

Qualities of a Great Moderator:

• Trustworthy and Reliable: This is non-negotiable. Choose people who you genuinely trust to act in your best interest and not abuse their power, for example, by muting people they simply disagree with.
• Fan of Your Content: Your best mods are often your biggest supporters. They understand your content, your inside jokes, and the general vibe you want to create. This lets them make judgment calls that are aligned with your brand.
• Calm Under Pressure: The chat can get heated. A great moderator doesn't get rattled by trolls. They can de-escalate situations calmly and make decisions based on rules, not emotion.
• Active and Present: Look for individuals who are already regulars in your LIVEs and comments section. Their consistent presence shows they are reliable and invested in the success of your community.
• Understands the Rules: Take a few minutes to talk to potential mods before you appoint them. Explain your expectations. What kind of speech is off-limits? How lenient should they be? A quick chat to set the ground rules ensures everyone is on the same page.

Setting Your Mods Up for Success (And Managing Them)

Once you’ve chosen your team, a little bit of organization can go a long way. Creating a simple system helps your mods feel supported and makes your streams run more smoothly.

How to Remove a Moderator

If a moderator is no longer active or a good fit, removing them is simple. Just follow the same steps you took to add them: Go to the "LIVE" screen >, Settings >, Moderators. You'll see your current list of mods. Just tap the "Remove" button next to their name and confirm. It’s effective immediately and doesn't send them a notification.

Communicating with Your Mod Team

It's smart to create a dedicated space for your mods to communicate with you and with each other. This could be a private Discord server, an Instagram group chat, or even a WhatsApp group. Use this channel to:

• Outline the final rules and guidelines.
• Give them a heads-up before you plan to go LIVE.
• Discuss how a stream went afterward and what could be improved.
• Build a sense of teamwork and camaraderie.

Help Them with TikTok's Built-in Tools

You can make your moderators' jobs much easier by activating TikTok's automated comment filters. In your LIVE settings, you can turn on the "Filter Comments" feature and even create a custom list of keywords to block. This will automatically hide comments containing those specific words, lightening the manual load on your moderation team so they can focus on more nuanced situations.

Final Thoughts

Adding moderators is a vital step in taking your TikTok LIVE streams from a casual hobby to a genuine community-building effort. By carefully selecting trusted supporters and using TikTok's simple tools, you can create a safe, engaging, and positive environment that keeps viewers coming back for more. Don’t be afraid to empower your fans - they are often your greatest asset.

As your community grows, the work of managing comments on LIVE streams, replying to DMs, and scheduling content across multiple platforms can feel overwhelming. To help with all that, we built Postbase as a central place to manage your entire social media presence. Our platform puts all your comments and DMs into a single unified inbox, so you're not constantly switching between apps to keep up. It was designed from the ground up for today's creators, simplifying everything from flawlessly scheduling short-form videos to visually planning your content calendar, giving you back the time to do what you love.