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If TikTok banned your account, for example because it thinks you are underage, appeal first from the in-app notification. If TikTok upholds the ban, Article 21 of the Digital Services Act allows an independent review: ODS, run by ADR Center (certified by AGCOM, Resolution 501/24/CONS), is free, rules on admissibility within 10 days and issues a non-binding decision within 90.
ADR Center: out-of-court dispute settlement body certified by AGCOM under Article 21 of the DSA, Regulation (EU) 2022/2065.
When TikTok bans an account, it shows a banner notification the next time you open the app. TikTok's Help Center says that if you believe your account was banned incorrectly, you open the notification about the ban, tap Appeal and follow the instructions (Account safety). Even with a banned account you can still log in to appeal and to download your data, and if the appeal is approved TikTok reinstates the account. TikTok bans permanently after a severe violation, when an account reaches the strike threshold, or when it believes the user does not meet the minimum age. In its rules for the European Economic Area, TikTok adds that you can appeal each decision only once, explaining your reasons in a free-text box, so write them carefully. ODS is not part of TikTok: it is not a help desk, it has no access to your account and it cannot lift a ban. It comes in later, once TikTok has answered your appeal.
A TikTok account can also be banned over age: TikTok's Terms say it will suspend an account while it investigates, or terminate it, if it reasonably suspects the user is under the minimum age. In that case you receive a push notification and an in-app notification. The appeal starts from the notification, by tapping Appeal, and asks you to confirm your age with one of the methods TikTok offers depending on your age and location: ID and selfies, a selfie with ID, credit card authorisation, or facial age estimation (Underage appeals on TikTok). Features restricted by age, such as LIVE or direct messages, are a different case: there is a minimum age appeal for those too, with its own methods, including asking a parent or guardian for younger users. If TikTok keeps the ban after the age check, that decision on the account can go to an independent review like any other.
Not every TikTok decision concerns the whole account. TikTok may remove a video, make it ineligible for the For You feed, restrict features such as LIVE, limit monetisation, or decide on a report you made. For a removed post, the Help Center says to open the notification about the removed content in your inbox, or go to the removed post and its Community Guidelines violation notice, then tap Submit an appeal. You can check warnings and restrictions on your account in Account check, from the Safety Center or TikTok Studio. Even a first removal counts: TikTok gives a warning strike, and later strikes can lead to a permanent ban. Under the Digital Services Act all these decisions, including a decision on something you reported, can be challenged first through TikTok's internal appeal and then before a certified body. ODS reviews them with the same approach as a banned account, and with the same impartiality towards TikTok and towards the person who reported.
If the appeal changes nothing and your TikTok account stays banned, EU law gives you one more route. Article 21 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, the Digital Services Act, lets anyone affected by a decision on their account or content choose a certified out-of-court dispute settlement body to review it. TikTok says so on its appeals page for the European Economic Area, which forms part of its Terms: you also have the possibility of accessing a third party out-of-court dispute settlement process to resolve any disputes you may have with TikTok, including in relation to appeals, and TikTok points to the European Commission's list of bodies (Appeals and other redress possibilities). You file the dispute on the chosen body's own website. ODS is run by ADR Center, a body certified by AGCOM, Italy's Digital Services Coordinator, under Resolution 501/24/CONS, and handles cases in 16 languages, English included. Keep the ban notification and the reply to your appeal: they are the core of your file.
An ODS review of a banned TikTok account is free, and the form asks for no payment. Article 21 of the Digital Services Act requires the procedure to be free of charge for users, or available at a nominal fee, and charges the body's fees to the platform, here TikTok; if the decision goes TikTok's way, you reimburse nothing unless the body finds manifest bad faith. Once your file is complete, ODS decides within 10 days whether the case is admissible and within 90 days on the merits, with an extension possible for highly complex disputes. Independent experts decide, and AGCOM certification requires the body to be impartial towards both TikTok and the people who use it. The decision is not binding: the Act says a certified body "shall not have the power to impose a binding settlement of the dispute on the parties", and nobody can promise in advance how a case will end. Both sides take part in good faith, and Article 21 keeps your right to challenge TikTok's decision before a court at any stage.
Before opening a case about a banned TikTok account, you need to have appealed to TikTok first, because ODS steps in after the platform's internal complaint. The ODS form then asks for the platform and the reason, your country of residence in the EU, a description of what happened, the date you appealed to TikTok and the reply you got, the reference code if TikTok gave you one, and your account details: username, the email or phone number you use on TikTok and the link to your profile. You can attach screenshots of the ban notification, of Account check and of the appeal outcome. If the ban is about age, say which verification method you used and what happened. If you are filing for your child, attach the document showing that you act on their behalf. You also give your contact details and your preferred language. Finally, you confirm that the information is true and that no other body is handling the same decision, and you confirm the request from the link we email you.
ADR Center: out-of-court dispute settlement body certified by AGCOM under Article 21 of the DSA, Regulation (EU) 2022/2065.
Last updated: 28 September 2026
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