About Research Tools

TikTok's Research Tools allow independent and academic researchers who conduct research on a non-for-profit basis to access certain data.

The types of public information that is available via the Research Tools include:

• Videos - Videos that can be watched by "Everyone", and for such videos, the total number of likes, total number of comments, voice-to-text, subtitles, the time of creation and video length.
• Comments - Comment text, and total number of likes, replies, and the time the comment was posted.
• Accounts - Bios, profile pictures, liked videos, reposted videos, pinned videos, the total number of followers and the number of people who are followed by the account. The response also returns information on the followers and people followed by the account.

The Research Tools support research in areas such as misinformation, disinformation, violent extremism, social trends, and community building. In order to obtain access to TikTok's Research Tools, researchers must submit an application, be approved, and adhere to our Community Guidelines and TikTok Research Tools Terms of Service.

Additional information about TikTok's Research Tools can be found on TikTok for Developers.

Vetted Researchers Data Sharing

The EU Digital Services Act (DSA) requires platforms such as TikTok to share certain data with certain qualifying researchers granted vetted researcher status by a Digital Services Coordinator (DSC) under the DSA (known as "Vetted Researchers").

In accordance with the DSA, Vetted Researchers may be eligible to access data for the purposes of conducting research that contributes to the detection, identification and understanding of systemic risks in the EU and the measures taken to mitigate them by platforms such as TikTok. See more information on the Vetted Researcher Data Access page.