TikTok continues to gain momentum in the EU, with its latest DSA disclosure showing 189 million monthly active users in the region. The same report also documents a major shift in how TikTok content moderation is staffed.
Under the EU Digital Services Act, all large online platforms must provide biannual updates on total users and moderation staff, as well as rule violations and suspensions.
TikTok's August update showed it added 9 million EU users in the first half of 2026 — steady audience growth in the region.
It's still short of what TikTok itself claimed last September, when it published a blog post announcing 200 million EU users. Based on the official numbers it hasn't reached that milestone yet, though it's closing in.
For context, TikTok's global audience breaks down as:
TikTok remains banned in India and restricted in Russia, and isn't available in China, where a local version of the app operates instead.
Elsewhere in the DSA report, TikTok said it removed around 104 million uploads that violated its policies in the first half of 2026, with 94.1% of those removals happening via automated means without human review.
TikTok added 64 human moderators in the EU versus its reported staffing in the second half of 2025. But it has significantly reduced its human moderation workforce over time. In October 2024, TikTok reported 6,354 human moderators covering the EU. In this latest update, it reported 3,738 — a drop of roughly 41% in under two years.
Put the two numbers together and the picture is clear: the audience is growing and review is moving to automation.
For brands that means two things. First, reach keeps expanding — there's no reason yet to reduce TikTok's share in European campaigns. Second, since creative review and removal lean heavily on automated judgment, borderline expressions and creative that depends on interpretive policy calls become less predictable. Build slack into campaign timelines for rejections.
The same round of EU filings showed X continuing to lose users and LinkedIn's active share stuck near 30% of members. For comparing real reach across platforms, these filings beat company announcements. TikTok's expansion beyond the app itself shows up in Out of Phone's European partner rollout.
189 million monthly active users, up 9 million in the first half of 2026 — still short of the 200 million the company claimed last year.
EU human moderators fell from 6,354 in October 2024 to 3,738 now, about 41%. TikTok added 64 in the most recent half, but the longer trend is down.
Reach keeps growing, but with 94.1% of removals automated, borderline creative becomes harder to predict. Build slack into campaign timelines for review rejections.
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