TikTok is taking action against posts that depict the effects of disordered eating. Amid mounting pressure from regulators affiliated with the European Commission, the ByteDance-owned app has banned the #SkinnyTok hashtag, which was used to disseminate videos that perpetrate harmful beliefs about body image.
#SkinnyTok took off in April, when the namesake hashtag hosted thousands of videos that celebrated unrealistic and unhealthy female body standards. The #SkinnyTok clips heightened broader concerns regarding the social media industry’s deletrious effect on teen body image — a trend that can also be seen through the long-form popularity of diet pill and steroid-like drug videos.
It didn’t take long before #SkinnyTok drew scrutiny from regulatory bodies. Clara Chappaz, France’s Minister of State for Digital Affairs, brought the hashtag to the European Commission’s attention. Chappaz called #SkinnyTok “unacceptable” and urged the Commission to crack down on toxic body image beliefs.
Subscribe for daily Tubefilter Top Stories
TikTok quickly acquiesced to those demands. “[We] have blocked search results for #SkinnyTok since it has become linked to unhealthy weight loss content,” said TikTok spokesperson Paolo Ganino in a statement published on June 2. In a post on X, Chappaz cheered the move as a “collective victory.”
This is not the first time TikTok has taken action to curb controversial body image content. Two years ago, the app caused a stir among creators when it restricted videos that promoted semaglutide drugs like Ozempic as weight loss solutions. YouTube has initiated similar crackdowns on its own platform, while companies like Meta and X have been criticized for relative inaction.
TikTok’s attempt to nix #SkinnyTok is a good step forward, but to fully address toxic body image standards and their effects on teenage users, the app has to do more. Playing whack-a-mole with dangerous hashtags is an imperfect solution. One idea would be to take a page out of YouTube’s book by tweaking recommendation algorithms to surface fewer videos that could be tied to disordered eating and related ills.
With a new lineup of features, TikTok is moving in the right direction. On Good Morning America, representatives for the app announced new self-care tools for the For You Page, including a topic manager, improved keyword filters, and an updated Safety Center guide. The popular app is becoming a healthier place to browse, even if it will take more work to reverse negative body standards.
