TikTok Suspension Case File: Did AI Videos Disappear in an Instant?

Permanent suspension—doesn't the mere sound of those words send a shiver down your spine?
It's scary, isn't it? It's like a ghost story of the digital age.

When you think about it, it's an incredible term.
It's as if your very existence has been put into cryosleep.
A phenomenon that strips away your existence in the digital world in a single instant.

I had heard of it, but I never imagined I would become a character in such a story.

◆ The incident began with a stuffed animal

I started posting videos to TikTok to write articles about the video generation AI, Sora2.
Whenever I felt like it, I would upload small videos made with AI.
That laid-back daily routine was perfectly peaceful.

Until that day.

I made a video with a "yami-kawaii" (sick-cute) theme for Halloween.
Just a video of a teddy bear and a rabbit plushie dancing, that's all.

However, the moment I tried to upload it—Rejected.
The reason was unknown. Incomprehensible.

The screen displayed a list of videos that are not allowed to be posted.
・Deceptive content
・Self-harm
・Animal cruelty
There were many other items, but none of them applied.

An "Appeal" button appeared.
I pressed it like a drowning man clutching at a straw, and like an automated reply, it was instantly "Rejected" again.

My heart pounded loudly.
Panicked, I believed it must be an error and tried to post another video with the same vibe.

And then, at that moment.

Account: Permanently suspended.

The screen changed, followed by a beat of silence.
My throat tightened, and my mind went blank.
Even though I hadn't done anything wrong, my account was sunk into the digital abyss.

◆ Panic and adding insult to injury

I desperately wrote down the situation in the appeal form.
・I use AI, but I have no intention to deceive.
・The "yami-kawaii" design of the plushies might have caused a misunderstanding.
・I would like to request the suspension be lifted.
I also attached screenshots of the video.

…Once I pressed the send button, there was nothing more I could do.
A sense of helplessness gradually spread.
The fact that I had been "erased" weighed heavily on my chest.

The only saving grace was—
that because TikTok videos sometimes didn't play well on note, I had happened to start uploading the same videos to YouTube Shorts.

Since one platform remained even after one disappeared, I managed not to completely break down.

I was really glad I was using two.

—I had barely finished comforting myself with that thought.

As if to add insult to injury, an anti-comment appeared on that YouTube Short.
It was in the morning. A shock like being punched right after waking up.

There are people who reject what I shared because I thought it was interesting and fun.
That was incredibly painful.

With the double punch of the suspension and the anti-comment, I sank to the depths of despair.
It's not a metaphor; my heart actually hurt, and I felt dizzy.

Even if I upload videos using AI, it's not an AI reading the comments.It's a human.
I wished from the bottom of my heart that they would remember there is a human on the other side of the comment.

Even though I thought it might not be good to react, I ended up writing a polite reply.

"Why?"
"What did I do wrong?"
That question swirled in my brain over and over.

◆ One week later—an email that arrived out of the blue

An afternoon when I was debating whether to have a snack.
My smartphone vibrated.
"Your TikTok account"
Just that as the subject line.
When I opened it, there was a crisp, concise message in English.

(Japanese translation by Gemini)

That was it. Not an excerpt, the whole thing.
The account was restored without any fuss.
It was anticlimactically easy.

Seriously?

After making me tremble so much, this lightness.
The weight that had been clinging to my body disappeared, and I felt like I was losing my strength in a daze.

No matter how unreasonable it is, or even if you have no idea why—there is only one thing you can do.
Appeal.
If you quietly press the button, it might return quite easily.
That seems to be the case.

◆ Why was it suspended? My own speculation

I suspect the cause was the "yami-kawaii" design.
The lace-up and stitching on the plushies.
At first glance, they might look like stitches or bindings.
It's highly likely that this triggered the AI judgment and was misidentified as animal cruelty.

Since the two yami-kawaii videos passed without issue on YouTube Shorts, it must be a problem with TikTok's review AI.

◆ Conclusion: Permanent suspension was not "permanent"

“Permanent suspension”If you encounter this strange phenomenon, first, stay calm.
Even if you have no idea why, or if you're scared, you just need to chant one single spell.

Appeal.

Sometimes, that alone is enough to break the curse.

If I encounter the same phenomenon again, I will likely still be frightened and tremble at the coldness of the ice.
However, it will be different from the first time.

“Hey, hey, I already know. You’re just ice that melts surprisingly fast, right?”

Just being able to think that makes the next post button feel a little lighter.

──Strange phenomena can appear suddenly anywhere.

Have you ever encountered a sudden“suspension”?
If you have similar experiences or thoughts, please let me know in the comments.

Rather than trembling alone, laughing about it with someone else makes the strange phenomenon much weaker.

And if this article has become even a little bit of an“amulet”for you, I would be happy if you quietly left a like or a follow.