TikTok Shop’s AI Is Hitting Sellers With a Barrage of Violation Claims [Video]

Fishing content creator “Joel-O Shotz” built an audience of around 10,000 followers on the app by livestreaming himself fishing in open lakes, rivers, and creeks. He started making money on the app by offering fishing baits through TikTok Shop, selling around 92 strawberry- and sweet-corn-flavored “little bitz,” for instance.

But lately, TikTok has slapped the seller with a series of violation claims that have made it harder for him to sell on the app. In repeated notices, he was told that he incorrectly categorized his products by tagging them as “fishing,” per documentation viewed by Business Insider. The penalties, which he successfully appealed in each instance, caused his product listings to deactivate.

“It was really confusing when I first started the shop because I had to figure out and wade my way through all of the violations to figure out what I could and couldn’t say,” he told BI. “You’ll be …