You’ve just crafted what you believe is captivating content with your smartphone camera, ready to disseminate it across all your social media channels to fortify your personal brand and inch closer to social media stardom.

You launch your TikTok app, choose the video from your gallery, then hit the upload button. Expectantly waiting for your clip to be broadcasted into the digital stratosphere, you’re instead greeted with a message: Your video is under review. You’re left questioning, “What does that mean?”.

So, what does it mean when your TikTok video is “under review”?

What Does It Mean When Your TikTok Video is Under Review?

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to decipher that a video “under review” indicates your clip’s upload will be delayed as the content undergoes scrutiny. But why does this occur?

Generally, this is a positive sign and here’s why: it typically happens to highly popular accounts or users who consistently post TikToks garnering substantial traction or views.

Given TikTok’s predominantly young user base, the app’s developers continuously ensure that non-offensive and SFW (Safe for Work) content is uploaded onto the platform. However, they cannot weed out every video containing inappropriate material or posts that infringe community guidelines, explaining their added vigilance with more popular accounts.

However, there’s another potential reason why your video may be under review.

Suppose you don’t boast a sky-high follower count or don’t belong to the echelons of high-profile TikTokers, yet your video is “Under Review”. In that case, some of your earlier clips may have been flagged multiple times, which could explain the app’s delay in uploading your content to its video library.

Videos already uploaded can also be put under review, thereby disabling further shares or additional traffic, until the “review period” officially concludes. It’s not as though hordes of people sift through TikTok’s vast video collection to maintain a relatively safe community.

An AI algorithm programmatically scans for objects resembling weapons, excessive nudity, or any offensive words verbalized or embedded in video captions.

A clip may remain “under review” if it treads dangerously close to breaching these guidelines, the comprehensive list of which can be found on TikTok’s Community Guidelines page.

How Do I Know If My TikTok Video is Under Review?

You won’t receive any special message or notification, but you will be informed when you attempt to visit or download the video that it’s under review. If a video you uploaded is under review, you’ll notice that viewers won’t be able to comment on that content and the follower or view count won’t increment. Things should revert to normal once TikTok confirms everything is acceptable.

Additionally, you won’t be able to share your video (obviously) or embed it on another website for online use. Naturally, it won’t feature on anyone’s “For You” page either. However, if everything is in order with your clip, these review periods typically conclude in about 48 hours.

Conclusion

There are five primary reasons why your TikTok video might be under review:

  • Adult or Sexually Explicit Content
  • Gratuitous Violence
  • Spam
  • Replicating Another TikTok User’s Video
  • Violation of Community Guidelines

While it’s debatable that many popular creators have uploaded such content in the past, TikTok reserves the right to delete or remove any video clip it deems appropriate. Thus, you’re at the app’s mercy, but as long as you refrain from engaging in any of the aforementioned five activities, you should be fine.