TikTok says it has blocked search results for the hashtag “SkinnyTok”due to a high volume of content that was promoting disordered eating and unhealthy weight loss behaviours on the social media platform.
“We regularly review our safety measures to address evolving risks and have blocked search results for #skinnytok since it has become linked to unhealthy weight loss content,” said a statement from TikTok emailed to CBC News Wednesday.
“We continue to restrict videos from teen accounts and provide health experts and information in TikTok Search,” the statement read.
The term SkinnyTok has become widely used to describe an online subculture of influencers and content creators that promote extreme thinness.
Under the umbrella of #SkinnyTok, creators make videos with snappy one-liners such as, “Skinny is the outfit,” encouraging viewers to achieve their goals by following extreme weight loss advice.
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Now, searches for SkinnyTok will yield no results except for a message that prompts users to check out expert resources. In Canada, viewers will see contact information and links for groups such as the National Eating Disorder Information Centre and Anorexie et boulimie Québec.
TikTok’s decision to block SkinnyTok came after the platform noted an increase in content promoting disordered eating and unhealthy weight loss behaviours earlier this year, according to the spokesperson.
In April, France’s Minister of State for Digital Affairs Clara Chappaz reported the hashtag to the country’s digital watchdog and the European Commission.
Chappaz and French nurse Charlyne Buigues have been campaigning to have TikTok block the hashtag since April. A petition Buigues started to get the hashtag banned gained nearly 35,000 signatures.
On June 1, Chappaz said in French on X: “Today, @tiktok just confirmed to me that it has finally removed this unacceptable hashtag from its platform. This is a first collective victory. I salute it.”