TikTok’s Video Takedowns in Kenya Surge to 592,000 in Q2 2025 Amid Regulatory Pressure
TikTok announced on Tuesday that it removed nearly 600,000 videos in Kenya during the second quarter of 2025 for violating its community guidelines. This figure, released in its latest Community Guidelines Enforcement Report (CGER), marks a significant increase in content takedowns as the platform navigates intense regulatory scrutiny from the Kenyan government.
The company revealed that 592,037 videos were removed in Kenya between April and June 2025. This latest report comes on the heels of a turbulent first half of the year for the platform.
The Q2 takedown numbers represent a sharp increase from previous quarters. For comparison, TikTok removed over 450,000 videos in Q1 2025 and more than 360,000 videos in Q2 2024. This upward trend in removals highlights the platform’s aggressive content moderation efforts following direct pressure from Kenyan authorities.
The second quarter (April-June) began just as TikTok was facing a major public and governmental challenge in Kenya.
In March 2025, the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) issued five formal demands to TikTok after a BBC investigation exposed the platform’s alleged failure to prevent minors from being exploited in sexualized livestreams. The CA’s demands to TikTok included: Actively pulling down all sexual content involving minors, launching a formal inquiry into the allegations, explaining how offensive content bypassed its moderation systems and intensifying public education on child online protection.
The platform’s Q2 enforcement report, which shows a high volume of proactive removals, appears to be a direct answer to that pressure. According to TikTok, 92.9% of the 592,037 videos were removed before they were viewed, and 96.3% were removed within 24 hours of being posted, suggesting its automated systems are working to catch violations early.
This enforcement data is set against a complex backdrop of the Kenyan government’s “carrot-and-stick” relationship with the platform.
While the CA and members of Parliament have pushed for strict regulation and, at times, an outright ban, other parts of the government are simultaneously embracing the platform’s economic potential.
Just last month, in October 2025, government officials, including Dennis Itumbi, met with Kenyan TikTok creators to discuss improving monetization. The talks centered on integrating M-Pesa directly into the platform, lowering the follower threshold for monetization, and increasing support for the local creator economy.
This dual approach shows a government trying to curb the platform’s “harmful” side while harnessing its “helpful” side as a significant source of income and expression for Kenya’s 10 million-plus users.
TikTok’s efforts in Kenya are part of a massive global moderation campaign. In the same Q2 2025 period, the company removed 189.5 million videos worldwide (representing 0.7% of all uploaded content), 76.9 million fake accounts from the platform and 25.9 million accounts suspected of belonging to users under the age of 13.
The company attributes its high success rate to a combination of technology and human review.
“By integrating advanced automated moderation technologies with the expertise of thousands of trust and safety professionals, TikTok enables faster and consistent removal of content that violates its Community Guidelines,” the company stated in its report.
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