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Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Health
- Daily Mirror
TikTok blocks use of popular hashtag after concerns it promotes eating disorders
On June 1, TikTok blocked search results for 'Skinnytok' following a rising trend of dangerous content promoting eating disorders on the platform and concerns raised by European regulators TikTok has implemented a worldwide ban on a popular hashtag for its link to the promotion of extreme diets and exercise regimes. The company said the block is part of a regular review to 'address evolving risks' on its platform but comes after concerns were raised by European regulators. As of June 1, TikTok has blocked search results for 'SkinnyTok' and removed the hashtag globally. Content associated with the hashtag typically included videos targeting young women promoting extreme thinness and unhealthy ways to lose weight. "[We] have blocked search results for #skinnytok since it has become linked to unhealthy weight loss content," TikTok spokesperson Paolo Ganino said in a statement issued on Monday, June 2. Ganino said the move is part of a "regular review" of TikTok's safety measures "to address evolving risks". Users who now search for the hashtag will be directed to mental health support. The ban follows a boom in the trend in recent months, which saw the platform flooded with videos for and by young women glamourizing eating disorders like anorexia. The rise in the dangerous content reached the attention of both the European Commission and the French digital regulator Arcom. The European Commission investigated the 'Skinnytok' trend after France's Digital Minister Clara Chappaz lobbied for an investigation and created a public petition entitled to 'Stop Skinnytok'. After news of the ban was made public, Chappaz shared her excitement on X. 'Skinnytok is OVER!' the minister posted. 'This is a first collective victory. I salute it. However, the fight to protect our children online doesn't stop there. And I won't give up. Banning social media before 15 is my priority.' The protection of kids online is growing priority as countries consider proposals for new EU rules to curb children's social media use. TikTok's duty to guard against the harmful effects of the SkinnyTok hashtag were a feature of a call between the EU's Consumer Protection Commissioner Michael McGrath and TikTok CEO Shou Chew, as reported by Politico . Currently any search for 'skinnytok' or even 'skinniertok' yields the following message: 'You're not alone. If you or someone you know has questions about body image, food or exercise – it is important to know that help is out there and you are not alone. If you feel comfortable, you can confide in someone you trust or check out the resources below. Please remember to take care of yourselves and each other.' Help us improve our content by completing the survey below. We'd love to hear from you! The message is followed by a help phone number and a link to the platform's Eating Disorder Safety Centre page. While it's a step forward, the ban will not necessarily mean the 'Skinnytok' trend is over. The TikTok community has a strong track record of pivoting with agility to navigate new regulations and user guidelines with new hashtags and code words. Still, social media platforms are being forced to take more accountability for the wellbeing of young users. A legal responsibility for online services to make their sites safe for children will finally come into force in this summer. Under the Online Safety Act, social media firms will be ordered to ensure they tame toxic algorithms, take faster action on removing harmful content and introduce proper age checks on their platforms. Tech companies will now be expected to begin assessing the risk of harm to children on their platforms after Ofcom's final children's safety codes were published today. From July these protections will be fully enforceable and services that don't comply could face serious enforcement action from Ofcom.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
TikTok Banned #Skinnytok — But the Pressure on Teen Girls Just Rebranded
TikTok just made a move aimed to help protect teen girls' mental health — but it feels like too little, too late. The social media app announced that they banned the hashtag 'SkinnyTok' from being searched worldwide after pressure from European policymakers. According to Politico, the TikTok ban happened because of the popularity of 'SkinnyTok,' with young women promoting extreme diets and weight loss tips. '[We] have blocked search results for #skinnytok since it has become linked to unhealthy weight loss content,' TikTok spokesperson Paolo Ganino said in a statement Monday. More from SheKnows Why the 'Yes You Can' TikTok Trend Has Parents of Tween & Teen Girls Sounding the Alarm One of SheKnows Teen Council Members named Juliet wrote an essay about how SkinnyTok has had an influence on her and her friends. Like ahead of prom, when a friend told her she was 'prepping' by running daily and eating only a protein bar and small dinner. 'I asked her how she got this idea, and she showed me a video on SkinnyTok,' Juliet wrote. 'After watching the video that inspired my friend, I was hooked on this account. I scrolled through for an hour, looking at all this woman's tips and tricks. And when I got up to look in the mirror afterwards, I was about twenty pounds heavier than I was twenty minutes earlier — or at least, that's how it felt.' It's great that TikTok is making a move to discourage this behavior, but it's not enough. As a survivor of the early 2000s-diet culture, I am intimately familiar with the harm an obsession with weight can do to teen and tween girls. We've had a run of body positivity that was encouraging for a time in the late 2010s, but it seems like society has made a full 360 turn back to promoting skinniness above all else. This has been pushed largely by the popularity of GLP-1 medications like Ozempic that is being touted by celebrities — Megan Trainor even changed the lyrics of her positive 'All About That Bass' lyrics change now that she more closely resembles the 'stick-figure, silicone Barbie doll' standard that she once spoke out against. But outside of the celebrity world, real teens (and even grown women) are promoting the skinny standard online, especially on video-sharing platforms like TikTok. A 2024 study found that it takes just 8 minutes for young women to be negatively affected by eating disorder content on TikTok. Eight minutes!? I'm shocked, but I'm not surprised. Seeing your friends and influencers talk about their obsessive health routines, the 'toxic' foods they cut out from their lives, and the importance of fasting or doing extreme exercise routines — it's hard to ignore that or not compare yourself to those impossible standards. 'Diet culture is a multi-billion dollar industry,' Sammi Farber, a psychotherapist, coach, and TikToker who specializes in helping clients recover from eating disorders, previously told SheKnows. 'Children, young adults, and teens don't realize that what they're watching is quite literally brainwashing them in a matter of seconds.' Search 'SkinnyTok' now, and you'll be directed to resources like the National Alliance for Eating Disorders, per Teen Vogue. But something else will surely take its place, like when 'suicide' was banned from searches, so people started writing and searched 'unalived' instead. What we need is a larger cultural shift away from 'skinny is the golden standard' mindset. We need more diverse body representation, a bigger push on body acceptance, and conversations that call out harmful advice or ideas in the name of 'health' or 'wellness.' No, it's not OK to drink coffee all day instead of eating. It's not healthy or cute to starve yourself, and it definitely shouldn't be normalized. One 2024 study found that individuals with eating disorders were pushed 4343% more toxic disordered eating videos than others, including 335% more dieting videos and 142% more exercise videos. Even though SkinnyTok is no longer allowed, the mindset behind it is, so it's only a matter of time before a new trend takes its place. It's like a game of whack-a-mole; as soon as you squash one thing, another pops up. TikTokers are posting health or fitness 'inspo' that basically glamorizes disordered eating. Like when they post about everything they eat in a day, or when they asked followers to share 'their most unhinged diet tips' that include harmful behavior and tips on eating less to achieve a certain look. (I saw one that recommended you eat all your meals in a bikini to motivate you to eat less.) It's scary. I'm not nearly as impressionable as a teen, but even I am susceptible to obsessing over the way my body looks and feeling shamed for eating whatever food is deemed unhealthy this week after being on TikTok. It's important for parents to talk to their teens and tween about body positivity, the dangers of eating disorders, and learning how to recognize (and call out!) toxic dieting trends. If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, call the National Alliance for Eating Disorders confidential helpline at of SheKnows These '90s Girl Names Are All That and a Bag of Chips 26 Stunning, Unique Jewelry Brands & Pieces for Teens 19 Celebrity Parents With Trans & Nonbinary Kids
Fast Company
6 days ago
- Health
- Fast Company
TikTok bans the #SkinnyTok hashtag for unhealthy weight-loss content. Will it actually solve the problem?
TikTok, a platform where misinformation and dangerous rhetoric often spreads far and wide, has officially removed the #SkinnyTok hashtag from its search results. The hashtag had become a space for creators to promote restrictive eating and other forms of unhealthy weight-loss content. TikTok spokesperson Paolo Ganino told Politico that the move was part of a 'regular review' of the platform's risks, but it followed considerable pressure from the European Union. Fast Company has reached out to TikTok for comment and will update this post if we hear back. 'Revolting and absolutely unacceptable' In April, France's minister for digital media, Clara Chappaz, requested that the nation's media regulator, Arcom, look into the hashtag. The agency teamed up with the European Commission to review the 'revolting and absolutely unacceptable' videos, as Chappaz described them. The European Commission has also been investigating TikTok's 'risk management of addictive design and harmful content' since February 2024. Users searching #SkinnyTok will now see a landing page that reads, 'If you or someone you know has questions about body image, food, or exercise—it is important to know that help is out there and you are not alone. If you feel comfortable, you can confide in someone you trust or check out the resources below. Please remember to take care of yourselves and each other.' It also has a resources link with an explainer on eating disorders, steps to take if you or your friend needs support, and emergency information. TikTok's community guidelines prohibit videos that promote eating disorders and dangerous weight loss behaviors, and selling or promoting products to lose weight. Last year, TikTok even banned Liv Schmidt, a popular user known for posting controversial eating habits, for violating community guidelines. However, she freely posted to her 670,000 followers until The Wall Street Journal sent questions to TikTok for a profile on Schmidt. She created a new account following her ban. Could other platforms see a #SkinnyTok spillover? Now, #SkinnyTok might be gone from TikTok's search results, but who's to say that users won't migrate to another hashtag or platform to keep sharing these harmful videos? Despite the community guidelines, this content continued out in the open through a well-known hashtag. Before regulatory agencies stepped in, users who searched for #SkinnyTok would see a message from TikTok stating, 'You are more than your weight,' accompanied by a resources button. But the harmful content followed right behind it, violating the rules and risking the health of the users who absorbed it. TikTok, owned by China-based ByteDance, has 1.58 billion monthly users, according to data from SproutSocial. Its largest audience is in the United States.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
What is #SkinnyTok and why was it banned on TikTok?
TikTok has removed the #SkinnyTok hashtag globally after it faced intense scrutiny for promoting extreme and unhealthy weight-loss content. The move comes after European regulators and French officials raised alarms about the trend's negative impact on young users' mental health. A TikTok spokesperson, Paolo Ganino, confirmed the action, stating: '[We] have blocked search results for #skinnytok since it has become linked to unhealthy weight loss content.' He added this decision was part of 'a regular review' of safety measures to respond to emerging risks. Now, users who search for #skinnytok on TikTok are redirected to mental health support resources rather than the harmful videos previously associated with the hashtag. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track default , selected Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Play War Thunder now for free War Thunder Play Now Undo Why #SkinnyTok was problematic The #SkinnyTok hashtag had over half a million posts. Many videos featured emaciated young women endorsing extreme diets and unhealthy weight-loss tips. Some content included guilt-inducing messages like 'you aren't ugly, you are just fat,' which reinforced toxic body images. This trend alarmed health professionals and governments alike. Paris-based nutritionist Lea Tourain said, 'I think it's really dangerous, and it scares me because it's becoming more and more fashionable... young girls... ask me how to achieve the same body. It's very worrying.' Live Events Similarly, Ella Marouani, a 22-year-old nursing student recovering from an eating disorder, spoke about the frustration she felt when TikTok dismissed her reports of harmful videos. 'I made several reports to TikTok about videos that were problematic and each time I was told that the rules of the community had not been violated,' she told Euronews. She added, 'I came across a few #SkinnyTok videos in my algorithm and they made me deeply angry... I am deeply angry for the young people who come across this content.' French government hails the ban as a 'collective victory' France's Digital Minister Clara Chappaz praised the removal as a 'collective victory' after nearly two months of campaigning, which included a public petition and direct talks with TikTok executives in Dublin. She said, 'The fight to protect our children online doesn't stop there. I won't give up. Banning social media before 15 is my priority.' This action has strengthened calls in Brussels for tighter rules on children's use of social media. Politicians across the European Union are citing the #SkinnyTok case to push for stronger content moderation under the Digital Services Act (DSA). EU steps up pressure on TikTok The issue was a key point during a recent call between EU Consumer Protection Commissioner Michael McGrath and TikTok CEO Shou Chew. McGrath said, 'This is a live investigation which will take its course in the normal way, but I felt it was important to reiterate the Commission's strong stance on child protection.' The EU has been investigating TikTok's algorithms since February 2024 under the DSA. These rules aim to hold platforms accountable for the content they promote and to protect users, especially minors, from harm. Ongoing challenges and calls for stronger enforcement Despite TikTok's assurances that it enforces 'strict rules against body shaming and dangerous behaviour related to weight loss,' critics argue enforcement is slow and insufficient. French Socialist MP Arthur Delaporte, who leads a parliamentary commission on harmful social media content, said: 'We need to stop the digital giants from setting up dangerous and flawed algorithms that ultimately aggravate mental disorders.' Delaporte urged a coordinated European response with tougher penalties: 'We do need to impose sanctions at European level, sanctions at an international level, fines if need be… at some point we need to bang our fists on the table and consider even banning the platform.' Other European countries have acted similarly. Belgium's Digital Minister Vanessa Matz filed a formal complaint against TikTok, referring the matter to the European Commission. Meanwhile, Switzerland is considering age restrictions to regulate the platform more strictly. This patchwork of national responses highlights growing frustration with the EU's enforcement pace and effectiveness. The Commission's limited role in the recent ban has raised questions about its ability to enforce its own rules. TikTok's move follows earlier actions in 2024, such as suspending the TikTok Lite reward programme, which incentivised screen time, amid concerns over its mental health impact . Health experts continue to warn that dangerous content may simply reappear under new hashtags or misspellings. Charlyne Buiges, a nurse specialising in eating disorders who initiated the petition, said the ban was a significant win: 'It's a great victory, I was very happy… Once I saw the hashtag was banned, I told myself I didn't do all this for nothing.' However, the fight to shield children from harmful online influences is far from over. As social media evolves, so must the vigilance of regulators, platforms, and users alike.
Time of India
7 days ago
- Health
- Time of India
TikTok bans SkinnyTok hashtag in Europe, says ‘We have blocked search results as it…'
Short-form video app TikTok has blocked search results for the #SkinnyTok hashtag globally after it drew sharp criticism for promoting extreme and unhealthy weight-loss content. The decision comes in response to growing pressure from European regulators and officials in France, who flagged the trend for potentially endangering young users' mental health. In a statement, TikTok spokesperson Paolo Ganino said '[We] have blocked search results for #skinnytok since it has become linked to unhealthy weight loss content'. Ganion further added that the move is part of a regular review of the platform's safety measures to address emerging risks. What happens when a user searches #skinnytok on TikTok If a user searches for #skinnytok on TikTok, they are now redirected to mental health support resources. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Free P2,000 GCash eGift UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo The now-banned hashtag has garnered over half a million posts. Many of these posts reportedly glamorised extreme thinness and shared guilt-inducing messages like 'you aren't ugly, you are just fat'. France's Digital Minister Clara Chappaz welcomed the move, calling it a 'collective victory' after nearly two months of campaigning, which included a public petition and a meeting with TikTok executives in Dublin in early May. 'The fight to protect our children online doesn't stop there,' Chappaz said. 'I won't give up. Banning social media before 15 is my priority.' The ban has amplified calls in Brussels for stricter rules on social media use by children. EU politicians have seized on the #SkinnyTok issue to support ongoing discussions around new regulations under the Digital Services Act (DSA), which aims to strengthen content moderation across major platforms. The topic was also raised during a recent call between EU Consumer Protection Commissioner Michael McGrath and TikTok CEO Shou Chew. 'This is a live investigation which will take its course in the normal way, but I felt it was important to reiterate the Commission's strong stance on child protection,' McGrath said. You may be interested in: Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge: Quick review and AI features
