TikTok Bans Gambling and Sweepstakes From TikTok Shop

TikTok has banned gambling, sweepstakes and all chance-based promotions from TikTok Shop in a policy update published through its US Academy on Tuesday. The rules apply to both merchants and content creators, and they spell out detailed restrictions on giveaways, auctions, mystery products and livestream sales.

Under the new guidance, users cannot charge customers for the chance to win a prize, receive a mystery reward, or join any activity built on luck or random outcomes. The policy names specific formats: raffles, lotteries, wagers, sweepstakes, lucky draws, spin wheels and similar promotions are all off-limits.

Even free giveaways face tight controls. TikTok says they must run through its official LIVE Giveaway feature, and sellers can't pick winners using lucky spins, wheels, draws or other chance-based methods. Entry has to stay free.

The stakes for sellers are concrete. Enforcement can range from listing removals and refunds to losing selling privileges and access to platform features. For creators running livestream commerce, that means mystery-box sales and wheel-spin promotions are now compliance risks, not just engagement tactics.

How does TikTok's approach differ from Google and Meta?

TikTok has essentially removed gambling and chance-based promotion from its commerce ecosystem altogether. Other major platforms take the opposite route — they allow gambling advertising as long as operators meet local licensing and compliance requirements.

Google has gradually opened up to regulated operators. It recently decided to let certified online gambling companies bid for YouTube Masthead placements, one of the platform's most visible ad products. Meta follows a similar model on Facebook and Instagram, where gambling ads run once operators clear the platform's approval process.

That permissive approach hasn't always gone smoothly. Regulators and gambling trade groups across Europe have repeatedly argued that illegal operators still reach consumers despite these policies.

Where have regulators pushed back?

The UK and the Netherlands show the friction in practice. UK Gambling Commission executive director Tim Miller criticised Meta over ads from black-market gambling operators, especially those promoting services outside the GamStop self-exclusion system.

In the Netherlands, licensed gambling trade association VNLOK took legal action against Meta, claiming the vast majority of gambling adverts targeting Dutch consumers came from unlicensed operators. Dutch lawmakers have also moved to strengthen the powers of the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), potentially letting the regulator target digital platforms themselves rather than only the advertisers.

Are regulators and platforms now cooperating?

Yes, and increasingly through direct channels rather than enforcement notices alone. Nordic operator Paf recently launched a pilot programme with Meta to help the platform identify unlicensed gambling advertisers faster. In Ukraine, gambling regulator PlayCity has set up direct reporting channels with Meta, Google, TikTok, YouTube and Kick to speed up removals of illegal gambling promotions.

TikTok, for its part, has drawn a hard line: no gambling promotion of any kind on its platform, and Shop sellers now operate under the strictest rule set among the major platforms.