Are LGBTQ+ Creators Being Shadowbanned on TikTok? Here's the Evidence

You may have heard content creators talk about TikTok repressing queer content. Maybe you’ve even seen it happen to you: videos disappearing from the FYP, comments randomly disappearing, entire accounts coming to a dead stop without cause. No ability to share to Instagram stories. And most of those moments are brushed off as anecdotal.

But data doesn’t lie. Because once you start tracking your metrics, you’ll know the answer: TikTok shadowbanning LGBTQ+ creators is real. They simply do not want you to be able to prove that fact.

TikTok hides behind cloudy excuses: "content quality," "community guidelines," " viewer reaction." What about when your content is educational, follows guidelines, isn’t filled with anything questionable, and still gets flagged? Banned outright, sometimes, on things that never showed up in the video to begin with?

Let's take a closer look at precisely how TikTok's shadowban functions, which metrics are most crucial, and how to identify if or not you are shadowbanned despite the app not directly telling you so.

Brains Up: Understanding TikTok's Distribution Model

TikTok's algorithm tries to surface content, not creators. Theoretically, even profiles that have very little following can land on the FYP if their content performs well. Ultimately, the algorithm's objective is to surface the right content to the right person at the right time to achieve:

• Watch time

• Viewer retention

• Engagement (likes, comments, shares, saves)

Once posted, TikTok puts your video into a mini “test pool” of 200 viewers or so. Depending on how they respond to your video —likes, comments, watch time, replays, shares —the app decides whether or not to increase distribution.

TikTok examines your language, captions, and metadata. Certain terms like “revolt,” “trans,” “lesbian,” or “Angela Davis” may find themselves silently flagged.

Also, it examines your language, captions, and metadata. Certain terms like “revolt,” “trans,” “lesbian,” or “Angela Davis” may find themselves silently flagged. The end result? Suppression, shadowbanning, or bans outright.

What Good TikTok Engagement Looks Like

To recognize that you are being suppressed, you need to recognize what is normal.

Engagement Breakdown:

• Comments: Real talk = real value. Are users responding thoughtfully or just using emojis?

• Shares: Probably one's best algorithm signal. Low shares = low virality.

• Likes: Shallow curiosity. High likes, low views? Something's not right.

• Saves (Bookmarks): Huge signal for learning or evergreen content.

• Views: Determines your content's visibility.

• Overall Play Time & Retention: If 40%+ of viewers watch your video, then there's a good chance that your video will go viral.

• Follower Growth & Profile Views: Signifies trust and long-term value.

Calculating the TikTok Engagement Rate

Execution Rate per View

Formula: (Likes + Comments + Shares + Saves) ÷ Views × 100

• Good benchmark: ~3.85%

• Great: 6–10%+

Engagement Rate per Follower 

Formula: (Likes + Comments + Shares + Saves) ÷ Follower Count × 100

• Micro-influencers (1K–10K): 10%+

• Mid-tier (10K–100K): 6–8%

• Macro (100K–1M): 5–7%

• Mega (1M+): 4–6%

Your engagement rate is decent, and your video still goes missing? That ain’t bad content, that’s suppression.

What Does TikTok Shadowbanning LGBTQ+ Creators Look Like? (Real-Life Case)

This is what transpired when I posted a video on Angela Davis, a Black lesbian activist whose work has been systemically erased from history.

Post Details:

Subject: Angela Davis’ life, politics, and lesbian erasure

Posted: July 1, 2025 at 4:44

Attendance during the first 45 minutes (after winning the appeal):

• 364 views

• 40 likes (11%)

• 4 comments (1.1%)

• 5 saves (1.37%)

• 0 shares (due to suppression)

• Engagement Rate: 13.46% (over triple the platform average) 🚨🚨

• Retention: 19

• Audience: 92% non-followers; 4 search queries

• Regular viewers: 53%

Suppression Timeline:

• TikTok reach was limited to 45 minutes

• The video was banned without any explanation

• I objected and won

• TikTok has not posted it again

• Buffer showed no reach, no engagement metrics

• TikTok's built-in analytics were not accessible until I contacted support

All this while remaining a clean, educational video. No nudity, no sex, no policy violations. Only history. Only truth. Only queer visibility.

Nothing to do with “faring badly.” This is about throttling, visibility suppression, and platform-level censorship on silenced voices. TikTok even blocked third-party apps like Buffer to track reach, so I, as a creator, was unable to verify it.

If They’re Capable of Burying This, They’ll Bury Everything

That's not new to me. I saw that same trend on videos on:

• Black and brown LGBTQ+ individuals

• Trans rights

• Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Queer political history and lesbian educational content are labeled “Sex and Nudity,” even when I'm fully clothed and reading from my research. TikTok has sent a clear message: if your content educates and empowers the LGBTQ+ community, especially if you're not sexualizing yourself, they'll bury it. But this isn't our imagination. This is on record. And we won't remain silent. Stay tuned for more of the strategies TikTok uses to suppress queer content.