How to Moderate on TikTok

Creating great TikTok content is one thing, but managing the chaos in your comment section is a whole different ballgame. As your account grows, you’ll inevitably face a mix of spam, hateful remarks, and off-topic conversations that can derail your brand and drain your energy. This guide will walk you through setting up TikTok's moderation tools and building a smart strategy to keep your community safe, positive, and on-vibe.

Why Bother with TikTok Moderation?

Diving into your comment section might feel like a chore, but it’s one of the most important things you can do for your brand and your audience. A well-moderated space isn't just about deleting negative comments, it’s about actively shaping the culture around your content.

At its core, moderation protects your brand’s reputation. Your comment section is a digital storefront, and you get to decide what’s on display. Allowing spam, aggression, or bigotry to run rampant sends a clear message that you either don’t care or, worse, you condone it. By cleaning up the noise, you create a space that reflects your brand’s values and makes your community feel welcome and respected.

This fosters a healthier community. When people see that you’re removing trolls and bad actors, they feel safer participating in genuine conversations. This positive loop encourages higher-quality engagement, where followers are more likely to share thoughtful insights, ask great questions, and connect with each other. And honestly, it’s a big deal for your own mental health. As a creator or social media manager, you don't need to expose yourself to a constant stream of negativity. Using moderation tools is a form of self-care that prevents burnout and lets you focus on creating.

Your TikTok Moderation Toolkit: Built-in Features

TikTok gives you a surprisingly powerful set of free tools to control your comments. Knowing how to use them is the first step toward reclaiming your comment section. You can find all of them by navigating to your profile and tapping the "hamburger" menu (three lines) in the top-right corner, then going to Settings and privacy > Privacy > Comments.

1. Automatically Filter Comments

This is your first line of defense. Instead of approving every single comment that comes through, you can let TikTok's AI do the heavy lifting. You'll find a few options here:

• Filter spam and offensive comments: This feature automatically hides comments that TikTok’s system flags as spammy, common scams, or offensive. The comment won't be deleted, but it won’t be publicly visible until you manually review and approve it. This should be turned on for almost every account.
• Filter comments with keywords: This is where you get more specific, and we'll cover it in the next section.
• Filter all comments: For a short period, TikTok offered a setting called 'In Review' that allowed creators to hold all comments for manual approval. While less common now, you may have different versions depending on your location and account type. TikTok continually evolves these settings, for example, the "Filter selected comment types" lets you target specific potentially harmful content categories, like unsafe or unfriendly comments. Using this puts you in complete control but requires a lot of time to manage. It's best used during a crisis or an influx of targeted harassment.

2. Create a Custom Keyword Blocklist

Right below the general filter options, you’ll see 'Filter Keywords.' This is your secret weapon. Here, you can add any words or phrases you don't want to see, and TikTok will automatically hide any comment containing them.

Think strategically about what to add to this list. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Common Spam Phrases: "Follow for follow," "Check my bio," "promote it on," "DM me."
• Curse Words & Slurs: Add any language you find inappropriate for your brand's community, including creative misspellings.
• Competitor Names: If you're tired of other creators or brands being promoted in your comments, you can add their names here.
• Triggering or Controversial Topics: If your content touches on sensitive subjects, you can filter out specific terms to prevent heated, unproductive arguments.
• Misleading or Harmful URLs: You can block fragments of URLs known for scams.

Once you add a word, any comment containing it is sent to a review queue. This is a game-changer for keeping your comments section clean without you having to be online 24/7.

3. Manage Individual Accounts

Sometimes the problem isn’t a specific word, it’s a specific person. TikTok gives you a few ways to handle problem accounts directly.

• Delete comments: Long-press any comment and tap 'Delete' to remove it completely. Pro-tip: After you long-press a comment, you can tap ‘Manage multiple comments’ to select up to 100 comments at once to delete or report.
• Report comments or accounts: If a comment violates TikTok’s Community Guidelines (like hate speech or bullying), don’t just delete it - report it. This flags the user to TikTok and can lead to account penalties. You can do this by long-pressing an individual comment and hitting ‘Report.’
• Block accounts: If an account is consistently causing trouble, blocking them is the best option. They will no longer be able to see your videos or interact with your account in any way. To block them, go to their profile, tap the three dots in the top right, and select 'Block.'

4. Control Who Can Comment on Your Videos

You can also set blanket permissions for who is allowed to comment on your content. In the same Comments setting menu, you can choose between:

• Everyone: The default setting. Anyone on TikTok can comment.
• Followers you follow back: Only mutuals can comment. This significantly cuts down on spam and trolling from random accounts but can limit community growth.
• No one: Disables comments entirely. This is an extreme measure but can be useful if a particular video is attracting an overwhelming amount of negativity. You can turn comments off for a specific video before or after posting it as well.

Beyond the Tools: Building a Smart Moderation Strategy

The tools get you halfway there, but a smart strategy makes your moderation efficient and effective. It's not just about what you delete, it’s about the environment you proactively create.

Set Your Community Guidelines

You don't need to post a formal document, but you and your team should have a clear, internal understanding of what is and isn't acceptable in your comment section. Decide on your brand's stance on profanity, debate, self-promotion, and humor. Are playful jabs okay? Can people critique your ideas? Setting these internal rules makes your decisions consistent and takes the guesswork out of daily moderation.

Don't Just Delete - Engage and Educate

Not every negative or misguided comment is from a troll. Sometimes, followers are genuinely curious or have a different perspective. Instead of reflexively deleting a "You're wrong" comment, consider if it's an opportunity to engage.

A simple response like, "That's an interesting point! This is the perspective we were coming from, but we'd love to hear more of your thoughts," can transform a potential argument into a constructive conversation. Responding shows you're listening and helps steer the dialogue in a more productive direction.

Pin a Positive Comment to Set the Tone

The first comment people see often sets the stage for the rest of the conversation. Use the 'Pin comment' feature to your advantage. Pinning a thoughtful question, a high-value insight, or even just a very positive or funny comment encourages others to follow suit. It immediately highlights the kind of interaction you want to see, nudging new viewers toward that path before they even start typing.

Schedule Time Blocks for Moderation

Don't try to moderate comments in real time all day. It's inefficient and a recipe for burnout. Instead, handle it in batches. A good rhythm is to check comments more frequently in the first few hours after posting a video, as this is when engagement is highest. After that, you can check in once or twice a day to review filtered comments and manage any new activity. This batching method lets you stay on top of things without letting moderation take over your day.

A Simple Framework: Ignore, Delete, or Block?

As you scroll your feed, quickly categorize comments to decide how to act. A simple framework can help:

• Ignore: For low-level trolls, baiting questions, or slightly off-topic remarks that haven't gotten any traction. Engaging often gives them the attention they want, so just let the comment fade into obscurity.
• Delete: For blatant spam, self-promotion, hate speech that your filters missed, comments revealing private information, or anything that clearly violates your guidelines and adds no value.
• Block: For accounts that repeatedly post spam or hateful comments. If a user is clearly not there to add to the conversation and is only causing disruptions, cut off their access for good.

Final Thoughts

Mastering TikTok moderation is a powerful skill that blends technical know-how with smart community engagement. By pairing TikTok's filtering tools with a dedicated strategy, you can protect your brand from negativity and cultivate a vibrant, supportive community that helps your account thrive.

Watching conversations explode across different platforms used to leave our team constantly jumping between apps just to keep up with comments. It’s exactly why we built Postbase with a unified social inbox. Having one place to reply to all your TikTok comments and DMs - right alongside Instagram, Facebook, and Threads - turns chaotic community management into a calm, streamlined process, freeing you up to focus on creating.