TikTok’s ‘SkinnyTok’ trend is under fire from EU regulators

The European Commission is coming for “SkinnyTok.”

EU regulators are investigating a recent wave of social media videos that promote extreme thinness and “tough-love” weight loss advice, assessing whether TikTok is doing enough to protect children online, per Politico.

France’s minister for digital media, Clara Chappaz, recently reported #SkinnyTok to both the French media regulator Arcom and the EU. “These videos promote extreme thinness. Protecting minors online is one of my priorities,” the minister said in a TikTok video posted Friday.

Arcom told Politico it is collaborating with the European Commission to examine the trend “given the public health risk” it may pose. A Commission spokesperson also confirmed to Politico that it is “aware of the issue” and “ready to cooperate.”

This comes alongside an ongoing EU investigation into TikTok’s algorithm and its impact on minors. The Commission is already looking into how the platform promotes content related to eating disorders—suggesting that further action may soon follow.

Although the investigation is still in its early stages, discussions with TikTok are underway. The platform’s community guidelines claim it does “not allow showing or promoting disordered eating and dangerous weight loss behaviors.” Still, content that “shows or promotes potentially harmful weight management” is permitted for users over 18 and is excluded from the For You feed. Fast Company has reached out to TikTok for comment.

Search “SkinnyTok” on TikTok, and the first thing you’ll see is a platform-generated message stating, “You are more than your weight.” Tap it, and you’ll find links to resources for disordered eating support, including the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA).

But once you move past that well-meaning message, you’re hit with thousands of videos promoting restrictive eating, body checks, and before-and-after transformations. “Unhinged skinny advice,” one post reads. Another declares: “Being skinny is an outfit.” And, of course, the old favorite: “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.”

Weight loss and pro-anorexia communities have long thrived on social media—just ask anyone who used Tumblr in the 2010s. In recent years, this kind of content has surged on TikTok, coinciding with the rise of GLP-1 medications. Many credit these drugs with pushing back against body positivity and ushering in a resurgence of thinness as the ideal.

The effects aren’t just digital. According to a recent report by Trilliant Health, eating disorder-related health visits among those under 17 have more than doubled in the past five years. From 2018 to mid-2022, these visits rose by 107.4%, with anorexia nervosa-related visits increasing 129.26%.

In 2021, a report revealed that Instagram had failed to protect vulnerable users from pro-anorexia content. Let’s hope TikTok learns from those mistakes.

View the full article