Women's rights activist permanently banned on TikTok in "mis-moderation" error
Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu had posted a video on the Epstein files when she was told her video had violated Community Guidelines
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The Source Exclusive: Women’s rights activist permanently banned on TikTok in “mis-moderation” error
Dr Shola’s has thanked The Source after her account was reinstated following our contact with TikTok about this story.
STORY BY MELISSA SIGODO
FEBRUARY 20, 2026
A women’s rights activist says she ‘no longer feels safe’ on TikTok after her account was permanently banned in a “mis-moderation” error.
Academic, lawyer and political commentator Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu who has amassed over 220,000 followers on the platform says she was invited to join the app by the company’s Global Partnerships team in 2021 to create anti-racism content following the release of her book This is Why I Resist.
But in a turn of events, after posting a video on February 2, 2026, labelled “Epstein files is white Christian patriarchal power in action” in which she spoke about the allegations around the convicted paedophile - Shola says she was informed that her content had violated community guidelines.
An hour after appealing the notice, she says she was then “frustrated” to discover that her account ‘did not exist’ and she could no longer reach her large audience.
Following at least 15 emails back and forth over the course of two weeks with the apps Customer Support Team - in correspondence seen by The Source, Shola was told the ban was placed due to” repeated violations” of “Community Guidelines.” However, the lawyer says she has successfully challenged the majority of past video violations.
Now, after The Source approached TikTok on Wednesday, February 18, informing them of our story, the activist’s account was fully reinstated 24 hours later on Thursday, February 19, nearly three weeks since she was blocked from posting.
Although a spokesperson for the social media company says that the ban had been placed in a “mis-moderation” error, Shola who ‘speaks up for marginalised voices’ says she ‘no longer feels safe’ on the app and will now have to reconsider what she posts on the platform.
Speaking exclusively to The Source, Shola said: “I got a notification saying that this [Epstein video] had violated guidelines and then it was giving me the option to appeal.
“I was outside the house at the time so, I just did it on my phone. I appealed.
“By the time I looked at my phone again, an hour later, my account was banned.
“There was no result from the appeal. There was no information about why.
“It has been deeply frustrating. I’m already having to spend my time in challenging status quo, speaking out against the government and all kinds of illegality that we’re facing.
“What I found with the TikTok process is that it’s not transparent. I do not feel safe [on TikTok]. Now, I have to think very carefully what I’m going to put on there because [the appeals process] is very exhausting and frustrating.”
Shola says that she began to notice account violation alerts and restrictions on her videos after she started creating pro-Palestinian content in 2023.
She says that since then, TikTok has limited visibility, removed sound or taken down her videos including posts where she criticised the UK government’s immigration policies, as well as content where she reacted to another video of a pastor condemning US President Donald Trump in which she nodded along only using words in such as “preach” and “exactly.”
The academic said: “I attended protests in Trafalgar Square. I remember one of my protest videos, they left the video, but they muted the words.
“They say my videos violate their guidelines when I criticise the UK government.
“Just before this [video about Epstein], another video of mine that was a violation was a video of me reacting to an American pastor talking about Trump. I don’t even add an opinion. All I’m doing is, I’m, like, ‘preach, that’s right, exactly’. Those are kind of comments I make.”
TikTok says that moderating content and accounts on their scale is a complex task, and that they are continuously investing in their technologies and safety teams.
Furthermore, the platform states that it enables a wide range of expressions.
Shola says that she has appealed “more than 90 percent” of the violations which has resulted in successful challenges.
The lawyer said: “I pointed out to them that every one of those strikes, I have challenged and more than 90% of them, you’ll overturn and approve my appeal.
“It’s also frustrating when I then do these countless appeals, and my appeal gets approved. That tells me you should not put me through this process in the first place.”
Overall, Shola says she feels “betrayed” by TikTok who initially encouraged her to join the app in order to give a platform to marginalised voices.
Shola said: “One of the reasons I agreed to that commission [to join the app] was because they made me think that TikTok was a platform where marginalised Black voices like mine would have the space to speak the truth.
“I feel like they’re not my best friends or anything, but it is a betrayal.”
A spokesperson for TikTok said: “The account has been reinstated following a mis-moderation.”
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