TikTok is chock full of spicy, kinky, and sometimes dangerous content. The same goes for most social media platforms, but what makes TikTok unique is how quickly the all-mighty algorithm can take you to some dark places.
I decided to check out what horny delights were on offer and was shocked by a lot of what I saw. How was some of this stuff okay to post on TikTok? Why are some adult creators banned while literal porn can stay up for months? How did an app about doing silly dances turn into a hive of cum and villainy?
Let’s explore the TikTok porn iceburg together. To be honest, we’re only getting the tip.
TikTok Moderation
We'd like to think that there are robust barriers for the safety of minors on popular apps like TikTok.
TikTok is a relatively new platform, so it should have learned from the moderation and safety failures of sites like Face book. Right? Well, my For You Page turned into a gooning wonderland overnight, so I have some doubts.
According to their own Community Guidelines, TikTok outright bans adult nudity and limits exposure of scantily clad adults. Sexually suggestive or explicit content, including language, is also kept clear of the main feed.
But how does TikTok actually moderate adult content? Besides relying on human users to report content, TikTok is all-in on leveraging modern tech.
As stated on TikTok’s Transparency page, the first step in ensuring user safety is a type of “automated moderation technology”.
“These systems look at a variety of signals across content, including keywords, images, titles, descriptions and audio. If no violation is identified, it will be available to view on the platform. If a potential violation is found, the automated moderation system will either pass it on to our safety teams for further review or remove it automatically if there is a high degree of confidence that the content violates our Community Guidelines.”
If something is flagged by the mod-bot, it can move up to a set of human eyes to make a decision for confirmation. This will either result in the post getting taken down or kept away from the main feed.
However, many adult content creators have expressed deep frustration with this system. It is easy to see how a robot would make hard-to-understand decisions that could ban one user over a some cleavage while another is blasting their labia all over your screen.
How have spicy content creators been able to flourish under the watchful eye of this techno pearl clutcher? Let's dive into the different levels of spicy content on TikTok to find out.
Level One: Spicy, Thirsty, Kinky, and Educational
This is the tippy-top of the iceberg. Here we have your basic thirst traps, kinksters showing off their fits and wares, and sex ed accounts.
This is the level where you find the most frustration with how TikTok enforces their community guidelines. This is especially true for creators who want to drive users to other sites like Onlyfans, Loyalfans, or Fansly. These aspiring corn stars and accountants can’t even post a link in their TikTok bio without getting flagged. Most just post their Instagram handle, where more links can be found.
Another type of spicy TikTok account banging its head against the wall is more educational than titillating. While TikTok’s community guidelines allow for discussion of sexuality and reproductive health, sex and kink educational creators, users don’t know if they’ve crossed a line until it’s too late.
The same goes for posts that feature a bit too much boob or butt.
In most cases, these accounts have learned how to dance their bountiful and bouncing bodies around the laser beams like they're in a heist movie from the 80s. At least when it comes to language, most creators have found creative ways of avoiding the robo-mod. This is where we got fun euphemisms like “corn star” and “onlypans”. Many have used the words “fake body” in the post description or have gotten creative about the spelling of words like “sex” or “boobies”.
The other enraging aspect of TikTok's extremely fallible moderation process is the trolls reporting content they disagree with because of political or ideological beliefs. Queer creators have had to fight this uphill battle more than most.
For now, your favorite cosplayers, thicc goth mommies, and Dom daddies are safe and will show up on your main feed with few problems. But, what about the even spicier content creators we love?
Level Two: #bounce, #flashtok, #countdown, Sounds, and other TikTok Trends
Countless TikTok challenges or trends have found ways to stay just outside the lines of getting reported, but things seem to have gotten more extreme lately.
Oh, and weirder.
TikTok hashtags are a basic and easy way to find things like well-endowed ladies and men bouncing, grinding, or lip-syncing a particularly hot piece of audio. Tags like #bounce, #daddy, or even #accountant, thanks to a 2020 trend where Onlyfans models were telling people they were number crunchers to avoid questions when asked what they do for work, can help you find some spicier content.
Sounds can bring some spicy TikTok trends as well. Previous popular dance trends have been spiced up. Armani White’s song BILLIE EILISH or Andre Swilley’s Pistol usually involves transitions from a frumpy fit to an erotic ensemble, and songs like Doja Cat’s Streets have inspired entire sexy TikTok trends. NSFW TikTok accounts will heat things up even more with added faces of pleasure, stroking motions, and tongues out, not even pretending that we aren’t all on the same page.
Stepping away from trends, some NSFW TikTok creators have found success in the cum countdown genre. Countdown TikTok is the best part of a Jerk Off Instruction video, with nothing to trigger red flags.
More recently we’ve had trends like #flashtok and the TikTok reflections challenge. Here NSFW TikTok creators will sneak a nipple or bare butt through a reflection in a mirror or sunglasses. Some have gotten even sneakier and hidden a pic of them naked in the background of a mundane shot.
Then there's the nip slip trend going thanks to a pair of overalls. And the TikTok Nails Kitty Video. This features a lady showing off her new nails over a blanket, but as she turns them you can see her “kitty” on full display.
There are hundreds if not thousands of posts responding to these NSFW TikTok trends, angrily wondering how they could be allowed to do this on a platform with children.
I have a theory, though: their outrage is disingenuous.
The way people are getting away with showing some nudity on TikTok and doing it somewhat responsibly is by making you work to find it. And I do mean work.
#flashtok videos, even the TikTok Kitty Nails Video, require an eagle eye. You would need to download the video, pause it at just the right moment, and hope it’s not too blurry. In that video, the “kitty” in question just blends in with the folds of the blanket surrounding it.
Most TikTok porn accounts cover their tracks and stay off the main feed by avoiding hashtags and having multiple accounts. They not only make themselves harder to search for, but so many now have you go on what is basically a scavenger hunt to find anything actually NSFW. So, actual spicy content creators aren't the ones luring innocent eyes and minds to straight up porn.
This leads us to the reason I take issue with the #staycurious crowd.
These are people who post videos that show someone looking shocked with captions that say not to search a certain user’s reposts, filters, or stickers. They are driving engagement on their videos, which are eligible for the For You Page, to actual TikTok porn.
Level Three: Sneaky Porn on TikTok
This is where we cross the line from the arguably unethical TikTok porn to just straight-up-not-cool.
There are accounts that will post absolutely NSFW TikTok content via stickers and repost sections. Some have even gotten so creative as to make erotic art from specifically placed thumbnails. Most of these TikTok porn accounts will have bios that beg you not to look at their reposts or stickers while not posting any content of their own.
Some have adopted a strategy to not only avoid moderators but also drive traffic that is, in a word, disgusting.
That link up above? The one with the gay anime bondage tile art? Those are the reposts, but the videos are cartoon girls with different outfits. Other pages from similarly named accounts are plastered with clips from Marvel movies and anime. Dress-up dolls, Spider-Man, Avatar. You know, stuff for kids.
All of these accounts use copious hashtags to get the the innocuous images and videos they post on their grids on the For You Page and include enormous text directing users to their reposts and likes, essentially, their TikTok porn stashes.
And the concerned #staycurious creators are helping. In fact, all of this started with one of those videos popping up on my feed, which is usually just cooking, cartoons, and politics.
And let's be clear, we have nothing against anime bondage porn, or any kind of ethically made porn, when viewed by consenting adults. We also don't have a problem with legit adult content creators sharing their work on TikTok or any other social media platform. Sex work is work!
What we do have a problem with is people peddling TikTok porn using cute images and videos targeted at kids to get their NSFW content to unconsenting people of any age. If people are so concerned about adult content on TikTok, maybe stop reporting responsible #accountants and corn stars and quit making trends that help creeps expose minors to porn.
More To Explore
There is a whole galaxy of sexy and spicy NSFW TikToks. If you want to go beyond the basic bouncing bikini babes and ripped man meat, there is plenty to keep you entertained.
But as you dive into the Black Hole of your FYP, keep your eyes out for sexy TikTok Trends that drive folks to TikTok porn, support responsible TikTok porn creators and educators, and do your part to keep harmful content off our feeds.
Justin Perlman has written about sex, dating, LGBTQIA+ issues, and Pop culture for Philadelphia Weekly, Women's Health Interactive, and Kinkly. He lives with his wife, two cats (Superintendent Chalmers & Dr. Whoopsy Daisy), and a puppy (Walton Doggins).