TikTok’s e-commerce feature is facilitating the sale and distribution of firearm accessories, including apparently illegal “Glock switches” that convert handguns into automatic weapons.
TikTok Shop’s own firearms, ammunition, and weapons policies explicitly forbid “all associated parts, kits, ammunition, components, and accessories for building or constructing firearms.” Sellers on TikTok Shop are also governed by the platform’s community guidelines, which prohibit “the trade of firearms,” including “professionally manufactured firearms, improvised firearms (such as ghost guns and 3D printed guns), firearm accessories, and ammunition.” Yet, there seems to be a disconnect between the company’s rules and their actual enforcement.
Media Matters identified seemingly illegal switches used to convert Glock handguns to fully automatic weapons listed for sale on TikTok Shop. TikTok Shop even offered a 30% discount coupon on this product.
The switches were described as an “Airsoft Auto Fidget Toy” with a description reading, “Makes Your Airsoft Toy Keep Shooting.” (A 2022 Vice investigation found that Glock switch distributors often describe their products as “airsoft parts” to evade law enforcement detection — though airsoft, BB guns, and other replica firearms are also supposedly prohibited by TikTok Shop.)
A simple reverse image search of the product confirmed that the “Airsoft Auto Fidget Toy” appears to be an illegal so-called “Glock switch.”
The switches convert traditional semi-automatic Glock pistols to fully automatic, enabling them to fire 31 rounds in just 2.1 seconds. These devices, which are not actually made by Glock, are illegal and classified as machine guns under federal law. According to an ATF report, the number of machine gun conversion accessories seized by law enforcement went up 570% from 2017 to 2021.
Illegal gun modifications being sold on social media isn’t new — in fact, a 2023 Forbes report identified Glock switches for sale on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. However, the sellers on those social media platforms were facilitating the sales privately, not through an official marketplace.
Before the creation of TikTok Shop, Media Matters found that TikTok had hosted content advertising potentially illegal gun conversion kits and firearm accessories in a similar fashion to the aforementioned social media platforms. However, the creation of TikTok’s in-app shopping feature has now made the company the middleman in these seemingly illicit dealings.
Unlike previous examples we’ve reported, TikTok itself reviewed, approved, hosted, and offered users a discount on the listing for apparently illegal Glock switches. TikTok also takes a cut of every sale on its shopping platform. Additionally, Media Matters found the TikTok Shop had listings for what appears to be an AR-15 rifle stock (again marketed for “airsoft”), as well as grips used on the fore end of an AR-15 or other firearm.
TikTok abruptly launched its marketplace feature last year reportedly in hopes of a quick money grab, but the rollout of TikTok Shop has been marked by repeated product moderation failures and a clear prioritization of profit at the expense of user safety.
