Billo CEO Donatas Smailys argues TikTok’s AI spam crackdown is really about protecting ad performance, not taking a moral stance on the technology.
TikTok has spent the past fortnight rolling out a fresh set of tools aimed at helping people tell real content from AI-generated content, and for any Australian SME running a presence on the platform, it’s worth understanding what’s actually changing.
What TikTok is changing
In a newsroom post published 14 July 2026, TikTok outlined three connected moves: expanding its AI literacy resources and expert partnerships, testing improved detection systems targeting accounts dedicated to posting AI-generated spam, and joining the C2PA Steering Committee, the cross-industry body behind Content Credentials, a widely adopted standard for tracing whether media has been AI-generated or edited.
The detection improvements are specifically aimed at accounts producing spam in categories the platform considers higher risk, politics and current events, financial advice, and medical content. TikTok said it removed more than 86 million fake accounts in the first quarter of 2026 alone, and the new detection systems build on that existing enforcement work.
The literacy and labelling push
Alongside the spam crackdown, TikTok is investing in helping ordinary users spot AI content themselves. Working with media literacy organisation NAMLE and deepfake researcher Henry Ajder, the platform has produced a new guide on using AI tools responsibly, and it’s building an in-app hub where people can learn to identify AI-generated content when they search AI-related terms.
TikTok has also committed more than $4 million to a broader AI literacy program launched in November 2025, working with expert partners to produce educational content directly in people’s feeds. According to the platform, that content has generated more than 200 million views to date.
On the labelling side, TikTok says it has now tagged over 3 billion videos as AI-generated content, using a combination of C2PA Content Credentials, creator-applied labels, and invisible watermarking technology that persists even if content is re-uploaded elsewhere. The company was the first video platform to adopt C2PA Content Credentials two years ago, and its new seat on the C2PA Steering Committee is aimed at pushing wider adoption of the standard across the industry.
One critic’s take
Not everyone reads TikTok’s announcement as a straightforward safety move. Donatas Smailys, CEO of UGC creator marketing platform Billo, argues the crackdown is really about protecting what performs on the platform, not a moral position on AI itself. It’s worth noting Smailys has a commercial interest here, Billo’s business is built around human-made creator content, so a platform favouring “real” creators over AI content lines up with his company’s model.
“It would be naive to read this as TikTok taking a moral stance,” Smailys said. “The platforms can see in their own data what audiences respond to, and they’re quietly rebuilding their rules around real people. TikTok is now starting to treat AI content the same way it treats spam. And that should raise some red flags for advertisers who heavily rely on synthetic influencers and AI creators. Platforms don’t spend money fighting content that works. They fight content that makes people scroll past, and feeds full of AI videos are doing exactly that.”
Smailys also pointed to a regulatory angle. New York now requires disclosure of synthetic performers in advertising, with penalties for non-compliance, and he expects more US states to follow. “The loss of trust is an even bigger risk here,” he said. “Once your audience feels tricked, no disclosure label wins them back.”
What this means for marketers
Whatever TikTok’s underlying motivation, the practical takeaway for SMEs is the same: content that’s obviously AI-generated, low-effort, or spam-adjacent is facing more scrutiny, not less, and that trend lines up with what’s happening elsewhere in digital marketing. Dynamic Business recently reported that Australian marketing teams are bracing for a fivefold increase in content demand by 2027, meaning more businesses will lean on AI tools to keep up, even as platforms tighten how that content is labelled and policed.
The broader lesson tracks with what’s happening in search too. AI systems and platforms increasingly reward specificity, authenticity and verifiable substance over generic, mass-produced content. For SMEs building a TikTok presence, that suggests leaning into genuine, well-made content rather than volume-driven AI production is likely to matter more, not less, as these detection and labelling systems mature.
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