As of April 2026, global governments are trying to actively restrict social media platforms such as Tiktok among young people. Countries worldwide, including Europe, Australia and others are introducing age limits and bans and Tiktok is one of the well known examples. Currently, Tiktok regulation is issued as an ongoing debate, which follows the ongoing effort of the United States in January 2026.
In January 2026, President Donald Trump had already delayed the regulation on Tiktok before. The January discussions were focused on the implementation of a U.S. law targeting Tiktok’s ownership. This was a continued discussion on aiming to separate Tiktok from its Chinese parent company or a potential ban.
Negotiations were still happening between U.S. officials, Tiktok/Bytedance, and potential investors, as governments set deadlines but the deadlines were being delayed or debated, with no final enforcement made yet.
While trying to regulate Tiktok, officials are concerned about data privacy and possible national security risks, and to prevent risks for the young students, some countries are pushing legal restrictions under 14-16.
What major changes has Tiktok made? The major changes focused on four main areas, which are live streaming eligibility, commercial content disclosure, AI-generated content, and off-platform. The first one is about the platform requiring specific criteria for the creators before creators can access certain features. The second one is about commercial content disclosure becoming absolutely mandatory for all posts. For example, if a creator uses a product that got advertisements from a company, the creator should show the fact that it is being advertised. Also, Tiktok introduced a new restriction on AI usage as AI-generated products and deepfake videos got viral and the potential detrimental impacts include misleading information.
From these restrictions and instructions of tiktok content in 2025 – 2026, Tiktok has tried to address the mental health issue related to social media problems.
By Jeonghwa Oh
References
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/04/business/video/tiktok-ban-april-digvid
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/22/tiktok-us-venture-oracle
https://www.darkroomagency.com/observatory/what-brands-need-to-know-about-tiktok-new-rules-2026
