1. Overview

1.1 Introduction

The Creator Performance Evaluation Policy has been drafted with the express purpose of:

• Building a positive shopping environment on TikTok Shop; and
• Providing a shopping experience that consumers can have confidence in.

Users, including sellers, who create and share e-commerce content must do so in accordance with these guidelines.

1.2 Scope

Our Creator Performance Evaluation Policy has been established to ensure transparency around our approach to applying enforcement actions on TikTok Shop. It covers all content that is uploaded or otherwise made available on our platform and applies to all TikTok users who create and share e-commerce content. This includes circumstances where sellers use their own TikTok accounts to create and share e-commerce content about their products. If a breach in policy is detected, TikTok Shop may take corrective measure(s), as set out in our Creator Terms of Service.Important Note: Creators are responsible for ensuring that the e-commerce content they create or share on TikTok complies with applicable laws and regulations. This policy is intended to facilitate creator compliance. It is not exhaustive and not intended as legal advice.
This policy provides information about our approach to enforcement, examples of violations, and corresponding enforcement activities by TikTok Shop. Subject to the appeal process described in Section 9, creators must comply with all enforcement actions and requests by us. However, TikTok Shop may take additional enforcement actions and require creators to take further steps to remedy their non-compliance with our policies and guidelines.
We encourage creators to seek legal advice if they have any questions about the laws and regulations concerning the e-commerce content they create or share.
Our TikTok Shop policies (including this Creator Performance Evaluation Policy) are updated periodically. Creators are responsible for checking this page regularly to ensure that they comply with our current guidelines.

2. Definitions

• Creators refer to all users (including sellers) who create e-commerce content.
• Terms and Policies refer to the Creator Terms of Use, as well as the policies listed on the TikTok Shop Policy Center.

3. Enforcement Actions (General)

Creators must comply with all platform guidelines and policies when they create and share e-commerce product related content. All forms of content such as showcases, short videos, live streams, cover images, hyperlinks, anchor products, titles and descriptions are subject to all the guidelines and policies on our platform, which include but are not limited to our: TikTok Community Guidelines, TikTok Shop Content Guidelines, TikTok Shop Seller Performance Evaluation Policy, TikTok Shop Product Listing Guidelines, TikTok Shop Prohibited Products Guidelines, TikTok Shop Restricted And Unsupported Products Guidelines.

• Removing the creator's product link
• Removing or blocking content
• Formal warning messages
• Suspension of creator privileges
• Temporary or permanent withdrawal of creator benefits
• Temporary or permanent exclusion of the creator from any platform campaigns
• Commencing legal action against the creator
• Reporting the creator to the relevant regulatory authorities for prosecution, and providing any necessary information on the creator's account
• Accumulation of Violation Points
• Freezing all payments (including but not limited to commissions, deposits and promotion fees)
• Removal of traffic/exposure/platform recommendation for content and ads
• Deactivating the creator's linked seller account(s)
• Deleting infringing account information such as email address or phone numbers.
• Recovery of applicable losses. This includes, but is not limited to:
  • Financial/efficiency loss
  • Administrative costs of associated investigations if a creator has committed a severe violation of this policy (reasonably assessed by our platform).

3.1 Joint Enforcement Actions For Associated Accounts

If TikTok Shop finds that a creator account is "associated" with a seller account, another creator account or any other type of TikTok Shop account, and the latter account has violated our policies or guidelines, we may take enforcement actions against all "associated" accounts.
This enforcement is in line with the conditions outlined in our TikTok Shop Creator E-commerce Permissions Eligibility Guidelines for creators to gain e-commerce permissions.
For the purposes of this policy,

• We consider TikTok Shop Official Accounts and TikTok Shop Marketing Accounts as creator accounts
• "Associated" refers to a creator account which we reasonably determine (in our sole and absolute discretion) has sufficient connections to any of the accounts mentioned above to indicate an existing relationship between the owners of both accounts (non-exhaustive examples include both accounts having the same or similar log-in information)

The enforcement action(s) taken against the "associated" accounts will depend on the severity of the policy or guideline violation.

4. Performance Evaluation and Control

1. Illegal or criminal activities
2. Sensational and Shocking content
3. Spam and Fraud
4. Sharing of Prohibited Products
5. Sharing of Restricted Products
6. Intellectual Property Infringement
7. Misleading Promotion
8. Misleading Traffic
9. Unoriginal, low-quality, irrelevant content
10. Any other prohibited and offensive content under local laws, regulations, as well as local culture and social conventions.

Please note that the level of enforcement action(s) taken against a creator will depend on the severity and frequency of the relevant violation(s) of our policies and guidelines.
If an enforcement action is taken against a creator, details of the violation will be provided via their Account Standing page. Creators should regularly track their account health via their Account Standing page and review any violation tickets that may have been issued to them.

5. Policy violations

The table below contains a non-exhaustive list of policy violations for which creators may receive Violation Points and enforcement actions (see section 6), which may include account deactivation. We may apply more violation points and take more severe enforcement actions for repeated violations. These penalties may comprise the suspension of e-commerce access, depending on the severity of the violations.

6. Enforcement

6.1 Content Violation Framework

Our Content Violation Framework outlines the various types of content violations that attract Violation Points. The number of Violation Points awarded for a particular content violation depends on its severity. This framework is non-exhaustive.

6.2 Creator Milestone Enforcement System

Our Creator Milestone Enforcement System assesses the overall health status of creator accounts. When creator accounts accumulate sufficient Violation Points to hit one of the Milestones mentioned below, their e-commerce access may be affected for a specific duration. Accumulating 24 Violation Points will result in a permanent revocation of e-commerce access.

6.3 Repeated Violations

Creators who repeatedly violate our content policies may face escalated penalties on their accounts. These penalties may comprise the suspension of e-commerce access, depending on the severity of the violations.

7. Risk Behavior Control

In addition to the corrective actions set out above, we may take additional punitive actions such as:

• Freezing all payments from the platform (including but not limited to deposit and promotion fees).
• Removing creator account information.
• Removing content from the account, restricting or permanently blocking the account and removing TikTok Shop permission.

TikTok reserves the right to impose a suspension of e-commerce access(Video/Live/Product Showcase) on creators who:

• Involve themselves in severe violations that have been uncovered/reported by public media, user reports and complaints.
• Who have engaged in illegal behaviour that has caused or may cause actual damage and adverse effects to our platform.

8. Withholding of Creator Commission Fees

In addition to TikTok Shop's rights listed above, if a creator has committed a severe violation (reasonably assessed by TikTok Shop) of this Policy, our Content Policy, any relevant platform policy or any applicable laws, TikTok Shop reserves the right to suspend the Creator's account and relevant e-commerce permissions, as well as withhold any relevant commission fees due to the Creator, subject to the terms as noted below. This decision can be made at TikTok Shop's sole and absolute discretion. You agree that, in such circumstances, you shall have no claim against the Seller or any payment service provider engaged by the Seller with respect to such suspension or withholding of payment.
Such withholding of the commission may be done for the longer of:

• (a) 90 calendar days from the date of TikTok Shop's notification of the suspension; or
• (b) The completion of TikTok Shop's investigation into the creator's suspected breach.

However, if TikTok Shop determines that the Creator has engaged in deceptive, abusive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, all commission fees will be permanently withheld and forfeited.
If a Creator’s actions cause loss or damage to TikTok Shop, Sellers, buyers, or other third parties, TikTok Shop may:

• Deduct compensation from the Creator’s commission fees
• Distribute (out of the Creator's commission fees) compensation to affected parties
• In the event the Creator's commission fees are insufficient to fully cover the damage, we may charge additional fees to cover the damage

This is subject to applicable laws and will be based on a reasonable assessment of the breach.
A creator may file an appeal against this enforcement action in accordance with section 9 below.

9. Appeal

If a creator believes that an enforcement action was taken against them in error, they may file an appeal via the appeal option located within the issued violation ticket. They may also reach out to us via the Help Center. TikTok Shop will investigate the case and take corrective actions where applicable.
The appeal guidelines are as follows:

• Creators can raise only one appeal for each case.
• The appeal must be raised within 30 calendar days of our enforcement.
• If the creator's appeal is successful, we will remove any penalties issued, and restore any withdrawn privileges, and (if applicable) release any funds which were withheld.
• If the creator decides to waive their right to appeal, or is unable to provide any valid and relevant evidence to support their appeal, then it will be regarded as a failed appeal.
• All decisions made by TikTok Shop are at TikTok Shop's sole discretion and are final.
• Any appeals raised after the timelines stipulated above will be considered invalid and will not be reviewed by TikTok Shop.

Please note that during an investigation, creators are responsible for the following:

• Collecting and preparing all supporting documents to prove the authenticity of their claims or of specific order(s).
• Providing a clear explanation on why the enforcement action was taken against them in error.
• Providing any additional materials or information that may be required by TikTok Shop.

Important Note: Submitting an appeal does not guarantee a successful outcome. Appeals ensure that TikTok Shop will conduct a review of the relevant case in consideration of additional materials or explanation provided by the creator.