TikTok bans #SkinnyTok. But content promoting unhealthy eating persists

Researchers opportunity body-positive contented doesn't needfully protect group from harmful contented that promotes unhealthy eating. elenabs/iStockphoto/Getty Images hide caption

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elenabs/iStockphoto/Getty Images

The societal media level TikTok precocious banned a hashtag called #SkinnyTok aft European regulators warned it was promoting unrealistic assemblage images and utmost weight loss. The institution had seen an onslaught of contented featuring emaciated-looking young women peddling tips connected really to driblet weight quickly.

Now nan hashtag whitethorn beryllium gone, but eliminating this benignant of harmful contented is not that simple. There's still nary shortage of group — connected TikTok and different societal media platforms — spreading unhealthy accusation connected really to eat less calories and get very, very thin.

Research shows that consuming this type of contented connected societal media is correlated to a higher consequence of disordered eating. Young women and girls are particularly vulnerable.

But erstwhile it comes to nutrition and wellness, it tin beryllium difficult to disentangle nan unhealthy from nan healthy.

"You person galore kinds of contented successful nan grey zones," says Brooke Erin Duffy, who studies societal media and civilization astatine Cornell University. "Their regularisation is overmuch much difficult."

Creators are bully astatine taking advantage of this murky ground, says Duffy. "As soon arsenic location is an effort for platforms to modulate aliases thwart a hashtag, anyone utilizing nan level is gonna create a workaround," she says.

A celebrated meme called "What I eat successful a day," for example, features group showing their regular nutrient intake. Posts tin either characteristic a balanced fare aliases 1 that could put personification successful a vulnerable calorie deficit. One young female precocious posted a video showing nan azygous croissant she subsisted connected successful a day, whereas a different female featured a equilibrium of thin proteins and vegetables adding up to 1,800 calories.

Body-positive counterprogramming

Some creators connected nan beforehand lines of nan assemblage image conflict are making their ain counterprogramming. Athlete and creator Kate Glavan — who has astir 150,000 followers — urges her followers to return earnestly nan dangers of contented that glamorizes undernourishment. She discusses her ain struggle pinch an eating upset successful her videos.

"A batch of creators are explicitly promoting anorexia to their audience," Glavan says successful a caller TikTok video. "It's dangerous. It's misinformed," she says, and she advises group to "block these creators."

Research shows that anorexia has the highest mortality rate of immoderate psychiatric disorder.

But researchers who study this rumor opportunity body-positive content doesn't garner nan aforesaid kinds of audiences — aliases profit. "Negative images that are unrealistic aliases show really bladed group aliases really muscular group thin to person a much lasting effect than body-positive content," says Amanda Raffoul, who researches eating disorders and societal media astatine nan University of Toronto.

Messaging that equates thinness pinch beauty is reinforced passim society, Raffoul says.

Raffoul points to investigation that suggests depletion of body-positive contented connected societal media does not needfully supply protection against aliases counteract contented that promotes unrealistic beauty standards aliases weight loss.

"The measurement that they building contented and nan measurement that they codification algorithms to amplify definite types of messaging and moreover target definite types of messaging to circumstantial users puts that accusation successful nan hands of much susceptible people," Raffoul says.

Even though platforms aren't creating content, says Raffoul, they are responsible for really aggressively they amplify different kinds of messaging aliases nonstop it astatine definite demographics.

TikTok declined a petition for an question and reply for this story, but successful an emailed connection stressed that they "regularly reappraisal information measures to reside evolving risks and person blocked hunt results for #skinnytok since it has go linked to unhealthy weight nonaccomplishment content." Searches connected nan level for this word are redirected to nan National Alliance for Eating Disorders.

Among different information strategies, nan institution says it continues to restrict videos for teen accounts and redirect searches to wellness experts, arsenic good arsenic partner pinch defense groups that connection strategies astir recognizing and treating eating disorders.

A losing battle

Some body-positive warriors opportunity nan activity is having a debased moment. "With nan monolithic rise of GLP-1 drugs and their wide usage arsenic a speedy hole weight nonaccomplishment solution, we've seen this return of nan communicative that bladed is backmost in," says Megan Jayne Crabbe, writer of nan precocious published book We Don't Make Ourselves Smaller Here. "The beauty modular has swung backmost towards utmost slimness," Crabbe says.

While Crabbe still creates contented connected societal media, she says it's harder to break done pinch messaging that normalizes bigger bodies than it was a fewer years ago. She is gladsome to spot #Skinnytok banned, but she says she sees a request for much psyche searching connected nan mobility of beauty standards from Western culture. "I deliberation banning nan hashtag is simply a surface-level plaster to a very heavy wound," she says. "We are still profoundly fat phobic arsenic a society."

Some contented creators opportunity nan uphill conflict against antagonistic contented astir eating and skinny bodies is exhausting. "I don't really declare it anymore," says Nyome Nicholas-Williams, of nan word "body positivity." Nicholas-Williams — a Black female and a plus-size exemplary — says she feels pushed retired of nan activity that Black women started but she says has since been co-opted. "I'm much of for illustration 'body neutrality,'" she says.

In 2020, Nicholas-Williams publicly took on nan societal media level Instagram, accusing nan institution of censoring contented featuring Black plus-size models pinch different standards than those it utilized to constabulary contented featuring white, slim people. The institution issued an apology and pledged to alteration its policies.

Nicholas-Williams says immoderate of her nationalist disapproval of nan societal media level has apt costs her business, but she thinks speaking retired against vulnerable contented is an important strategy successful combating it. "People speaking up and being brave," she says, "that's what it takes."

Raffoul, who studies nutrition and societal media astatine nan University of Toronto, says nan profit should not beryllium overlooked. "Every second, each infinitesimal that we walk connected these platforms is being monetized," says Raffoul, who points retired that eating disorders and ideals astir unattainable thinness person been astir for decades, but that societal media platforms let for a caller transportation system.

Raffoul believes it will return lawmakers forcing alteration successful bid to create meaningful protection from vulnerable contented done these caller channels.

Until that happens, she says, nan champion strategy to combat it is not to look astatine it astatine all.