TikTok Shop Southeast Asia Announces Three Major AIGC 'Content Prohibited Zones': Misleading Promotion, Effect Falsification, and Fabricated Stories

[Ebrun Original]

On February 12th, TikTok Shop Southeast Asia officially released its latest AIGC content creation guidelines, clearly delineating 'three major prohibited zones' for usage. The platform prohibits the use of artificial intelligence to distort product information, falsify usage effects, or fabricate sob stories to induce purchases. This move indicates a further tightening of the platform's content governance.

It is understood that in 2025, the number of shopping videos on TikTok Shop's Southeast Asian sites has exceeded 100 million, making content quality and compliance increasingly key focuses for platform management. Officials emphasize that while AIGC is permitted on the platform, all content must adhere to the 'TikTok Shop Content Policy' and the 'TikTok Community Guidelines'. AIGC should only be used to enhance creative expression or help users understand products, and must not mislead consumers.

To this end, TikTok Shop Southeast Asia has proposed the 'Three Golden Rules for AIGC'.

First, AI content must not distort product information.

AI-generated visual content of products must be consistent with the actual product and the information on the product detail page, such as color, size, material, function, design, shape, and weight. It must not add features or characteristics that do not actually exist. Specifically, any video showing a product that does not match the actual product for sale is considered a violation.

For example, showing three T-shirts in a video when the detail page lists only one; advertising a hoodie with a zipper when the actual item has none; labeling a product as 'Made in Italy' when it is actually 'Made in China'; claiming cashmere material when it is actually polyester, etc., all violate platform rules.

Second, falsifying usage effects is prohibited.

Merchants must not use AI, filters, or editing tools to fabricate 'after-use effects' on real people or AI avatars – this is particularly sensitive in health and beauty product categories.

TikTok Shop officials point out that any content involving 'a product's ability to treat, eliminate, or prevent sensitive physical conditions within a specific time frame' may be identified as 'effect falsification'.

Specifically, within AI-generated content, three core elements are particularly important to avoid: claims involving curative, eliminative, or preventative effects (e.g., eliminate, treat, cure, kill, avoid, erase, stop, etc.); depictions of sensitive physical conditions (e.g., acne, wrinkles, whitening, hair loss, baldness, stretch marks, cellulite, etc.); and implications of a specific time frame (e.g., instantly, within X days, with one use, etc.). Furthermore, regarding video visuals, the platform also prohibits merchants from using AI tools to exaggerate or falsify product effects and should avoid showing 'before and after effects' on AI-generated characters.

The platform suggests that for non-long-term effect products, terms like covering, contouring, and color correction can be used for description. Creators are allowed to share genuine usage experiences in the first person but must not impersonate others for promotional purposes.

Third, fabricating stories to boost sales is prohibited.

The platform forbids using AI characters or scenarios to invent tragic stories, crisis events, or content that may cause audience discomfort for sales promotion.

Examples include offensive visual content like blood, excrement, or cleaning sewers; close-ups of body care that cause discomfort, such as pimple popping, blackhead removal, ear cleaning, or blood drawing; dangerous acts performed to attract interaction; and inducing purchases by exploiting sympathy or creating guilt, including using AI characters to evoke pity or fabricating conflicts, floods, or other crisis events.

It is reported that regarding enforcement rules, TikTok Shop Southeast Asia currently employs a 'tiered governance' model based on the Creator Health Rating (CHR).

When merchant content violates TikTok Shop content policies, it is categorized into three levels based on the nature and frequency of violations:

first-time warning (does not affect CHR score);

repeated violations, which may lead to CHR point deductions;

and severe violations that trigger 'milestone penalties'.

Penalty measures include content removal, feature restrictions, withdrawal suspension, banning of video or live streaming permissions, freezing of product showcases, commission deductions, account restrictions or termination, and in severe cases, potential legal action or official reporting. Officials specifically emphasize that penalties will escalate for repeated violations, and some serious violations do not accept any appeals.

It is understood that over the past year, TikTok Shop Southeast Asia has continuously strengthened its content governance system to address the challenges to content quality and compliance brought by rapid platform growth.

In addition to the new AIGC content regulations, since mid-September 2025, TikTok Shop Southeast Asia has launched a new round of strict crackdowns on non-original and low-quality content, classifying spliced videos from others, simple imitations, or repetitive videos without context as violations. The platform has clearly stated it will implement penalties such as delisting from recommendations and freezing commissions for such content to improve the overall content ecosystem quality.

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