TikTok: Ban Dangerous Eating Disorder and Diet Content Targeting Kids
Shouzi Chew, CEO of TikTok
TikTok is one of the most popular apps with kids and teens – 67% of teens say they use the app and an estimated millions of children under 13 are using it in violation of the platform’s policies. An appearance-centric app, TikTok is riddled with content promoting eating disorders and extreme diet and exercise programs. It also contains a disturbing amount of diet and weight loss content specifically aimed at children under 13. TikTok must protect kids’ mental health by removing dangerous eating disorder content and diet and weight loss content targeting young kids.
Eating disorders in young people, especially girls, have spiked in recent years. 1 in 5 girls will now develop an eating disorder before she turns 25. Teen hospitalizations for eating disorders have doubled since 2020, and has grown by 200% in 6-12 year-olds according to one study.
TikTok must take action to protect kids’ mental healthy by:
Stop recommending pro-eating disorder search terms, including common misspellings, like “ABC diet”, “th1spo”, “sk1nspo”, “bonesp0”, “body ch3ck”, and more
Remove all pro-eating disorder and extreme calorie restriction content
Remove all diet and weight loss content that specifically targets children and minors, especially children under 13.
Sponsored by
To:
Shouzi Chew, CEO of TikTok
From:
[Your Name]
Dear Mr. Chew,
TikTok is promoting dangerous content to young users promoting disordered eating, extreme calorie restriction, and extreme and potentially deadly weight loss methods. TikTok also has a significant amount of weight loss and dieting content specifically targeting kids under 13, who are not legally allowed on the platform.
Eating disorders in young people, especially girls, have spiked in recent years. 1 in 5 girls will now develop an eating disorder before she turns 25. Teen hospitalizations for eating disorders have doubled since 2020, and have grown by 200% in 6-12 year-olds according to one study.
For the health and safety of young users, we are asking TikTok to immediately take the following actions:
Stop recommending pro-eating disorder search terms, including common misspellings, like “ABC diet”, “th1spo”, “sk1nspo”, “bonesp0”, “body ch3ck” and more
Remove all pro-eating disorder and extreme calorie restriction content
Remove all diet and weight loss content that specifically targets children and minors, especially children under 13.