Sheikh Losha, Abdel-Atti, Yasmine, Suzy El Ordonia, Um Sagda and Um Makka
The Q2 2025 report covers Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Morocco, marking one of TikTok’s largest regional enforcement actions to date.
The platform removed around 18.998 million videos across the six countries allegedly for violating Community Guidelines, reflecting a sharp escalation in its efforts to strengthen digital safety across one of its most active global regions.
Egypt recorded one of the highest totals, with about 2.93 million videos taken down in the same period.
TikTok said its proactive removal rate reached 99.6 percent, meaning nearly all harmful content was detected and taken down before users reported it.
The platform also removed 95.8 percent of what it called "violating content" within 24 hours, reflecting a strong level of responsiveness that the company says is central to maintaining user safety.
Alongside video removals, TikTok banned 524,168 LIVE hosts in Egypt and interrupted around 1.189 million livestreams during the quarter for violating rules governing safe and authentic content.
Regionwide, it banned about 1.331 million LIVE hosts and shut down more than 2.9 million livestreams.
In Saudi Arabia, TikTok removed about 4.91 million videos that also allegedly breached Community Guidelines during the same period.
In Saudi Arabia, TikTok removed about 4.91 million videos during Q2 of 2025. The UAE recorded nearly 1.05 million removals, Morocco 721,029, and Iraq about 8.32 million.
Crackdown on pro-Palestinian voices
TikTok previously removed more than 3.1 million videos from Israel and the Palestinian territories and suspended 140,000 livestreams between 7 October and 31 March 2024.
In the wake of Israel’s war on Gaza, US conservatives have intensified pressure on the platform over pro-Palestinian content, accusing TikTok of influencing young Americans and favouring pro-Palestinian narratives.
According to Drop Site, TikTok has escalated a broad crackdown on pro-Palestine creators, deleting videos, removing comments, and suppressing posts.
In July 2025, it hired Erica Mindel, a former Israeli military instructor who has said her Zionism was shaped during the 2014 Gaza war, to oversee hate-speech policy, working alongside the Anti-Defamation League.
Weeks later, on 13 September, TikTok rolled out new community guidelines that ban users from calling Israeli soldiers “terrorists” and introduced automated moderation that retroactively removes posts.
Users have reported “Free Palestine” comments disappearing in real time and videos of alleged Israeli war crimes being taken down, according to Drop Site.
Domestic crackdown
Egypt has intensified its campaign against TikTok content creators in recent months, with the Ministry of Interior launching a series of high-profile arrests targeting influencers accused of violating “public morals” and “family values.”
Since mid-2025, authorities have detained dozens of TikTokers, many of them young, on charges including “indecency,” “misuse of social media,” illicit gains, and money laundering.
Rights groups such as the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) and Human Rights Watch said the crackdown relies on vague provisions in the Cybercrime Law and Penal Code, giving authorities wide discretion to police online content.
The interior ministry said the arrests respond to citizen complaints and public calls to counter content it argues undermines “Egyptian family values.”
The crackdown has unfolded in parallel with heightened political pressure on TikTok itself.
Members of the House Telecommunications Committee have warned the platform to "improve its content environment" in Egypt or face possible restrictions, including partial blocking.
Parliamentary figures said they have met with TikTok representatives to demand stricter moderation of livestreams and short-form content deemed inappropriate or socially disruptive by authorities.
TikTok has not publicly commented on these meetings, but its expanded enforcement data and rising takedown rates suggest it is responding to concerns raised by regulators.
Lawmakers frame their position as part of a broader effort to regulate digital platforms in line with “local norms and societal values.”
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