TikTok bans #SkinnyTok after European regulators raise concerns
SkinnyTok used to surface videos on the platform about extreme weight loss tactics, including restrictive eating. PHOTO: AFP
BRUSSELS - TikTok has suspended search results for the hashtag #SkinnyTok, after facing pressure from European regulators, in the company's latest effort to counter criticism that the app fuels body image issues among young people.
The company said on June 3 that it 'blocked search results for #skinnytok since it has become linked to unhealthy weight loss content,' but did not specify when it made the shift.
SkinnyTok used to surface videos on the platform about extreme weight loss tactics, including restrictive eating.
The European Commission investigated the #SkinnyTok trend after an April push from France's digital minister, citing concerns that TikTok was promoting extreme thinness and glamorizing anorexia.
TikTok, which is owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, and apps like Meta's Instagram have long faced criticism that their algorithms, which identify and cater to users' interests, can inadvertently target vulnerable young women with videos and images that promote eating disorders and unhealthy body image.
The apps have sought for years to block and redirect terms like 'thinspo' to mental health resources, but critics say they have not done enough.
The inquiry into #SkinnyTok emerged just over a year after European Union regulators opened an investigation into TikTok over potential breaches of online content rules aimed at protecting children. The investigation is ongoing.
'Superficially, at least, this is a positive move, especially given the quite harmful content that circulates on these sites,' said Dr Brooke Erin Duffy, a professor of communication at Cornell University who studied the role of social media in work, culture and society.
'At the same time, users are savvy. They know how to work these platforms and how to evade their content moderation systems.'
TikTok, with its 170 million users in the United States, has sought to tamp down on videos tied to eating disorders for years, using a combination of machine learning and human moderation and working with organisations like the National Alliance for Eating Disorders.
Its guidelines technically do not allow videos that promote 'disordered eating and dangerous weight loss behaviours,' and content is ineligible for users' personalized feeds if it shows or promotes 'harmful weight management.'
The company said it also worked to interrupt repetitive content patterns tied to weight loss and extreme exercise to prevent vulnerable people from going down so-called rabbit holes of such videos.
Some experts have praised TikTok's efforts, including restrictions on certain beauty filters for teenagers that it announced in late 2024, but others have argued that social platforms ultimately prioritise keeping young users glued to their apps to maximise advertising revenue.
On June 3, a search for 'SkinnyTok' directed users to a call button for the National Alliance for Eating Disorders and a message that said help was out there for people who had 'questions about body image, food, or exercise.'
Still, such terms are a moving target.
Young users are adept at using what Dr Duffy calls 'algospeak,' or finding creative ways to misspell terms so they can maintain access to topics related to anorexia or self-harm.
Ms Clara Chappaz, France's minister overseeing artificial intelligence and digital affairs, celebrated the removal of the hashtag in a post on the social platform X on June 1.
She added that her broader goal was to keep children off social media until age 15.
The change is a reminder that TikTok still faces the typical problems that plague social media platforms, beyond the more existential questions surrounding its future in the United States.
TikTok will next face a mid-June deadline for making a deal to be separated from ByteDance, or otherwise be banned in the United States under a federal law passed in 2024. NYTIMES
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