Livvy Dunne accuses TikTok of “shadow banning” her as views plummet

Gymnast and social media star Livvy Dunne has accused TikTok of “shadow banning” her account after noticing her views starting to plummet on the platform.

Olivia ‘Livvy’ Dunne is a D1 athlete and gymnast for Louisiana State University who has risen to social media fame over the last few years.

In fact, she’s the most-followed NCAA athlete on social media, boasting over 7 million followers on TikTok and over 4 million on Instagram.

However, the gymnast noticed that her views on a certain social media platform were getting far lower than they usually are — prompting her to call out the site in a pointed comment.

Livvy Dunne questions TikTok shadow ban after views take a hit

Out of all her social media accounts, her TikTok profile is the most popular. Usually, Dunne’s short-form videos on the app rack up millions of views each… but her most recent uploads are struggling in comparison.

Starting at the beginning of December, Dunne’s views plummeted from in the low millions to around the 500K mark, a massive drop from her usual viewership.

Seeming to notice this trend, Dunne asked if the site had shadow banned her in a comment on one of her videos.

“Why am I shadow banned?” she wrote.

TikTok: Olivia Dunne

A few fans responded to her comment, with one user speculating that she must be, since her “posts never show in my fyp anymore.”

Shadow banning refers to when a social media platform or website doesn’t outright ban an account, but merely suppresses that account’s reach from entering the algorithm or being recommended to other users.

It’s impossible to know if Dunne was really shadow banned on TikTok or not, but it is a common occurrence on many social media sites. For now, it looks like both Dunne and her many fans are left in the dark as to why her views are so low.