“If your grin stomach is actually applauding you”, “you are not a dog because you are rewarding yourself with a snack”, “you eat little and you seem small, you eat a lot and you seem fat”: a new dangerous trend on social media has taken hold among the girls, for what very little to praise extremely thin bodies brought forward as a value and personal success.
All this responds to the hashtag #Skinnytok Fortunately, in these hours Tiktok has decided to block worldwide, “since it was connected to unhealthy content on weight loss”. Now, if you are looking for the hashtag #skinnytok comes out a notice that tries to help those who could have psychological problems related to their appearance to ask for a hand.
We tried on Instragram and reports emerge (at least with our algorithm).
What is #skinnytok and why we have to be careful
Nothing more than a hashtag specially created for disseminate content dedicated to weight loss And even to the promotion of anorexia, a flood of photos and videos with advice for the diet, complete with “before and after”, to the categorical sound of “discipline“,”severity“,”truth“,”shame“,”guilt“.
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The Tiktoker compare their respective bodies together, almost competing. Who is thinner? Who takes less calories a day? Magrezza was placed as an absolute ideal of perfection, necessary for the achievement of happiness, to be accepted.
Tiktok and eating disorders: what’s behind the #Skinnytok block
Tiktok’s official guidelines expressly prohibit the publication or promotion of hazardous eating disorders and slimming behaviors. Still, those contents were visible on the platform. Why? Because the policy still allows the spread of materials that deal with “weight management” in a potentially harmful way, provided that they are accessible only to adult users and do not appear in the “for you” feed. An escamotage that, in fact, allows risky content to circulate.
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The European Commission and the French Authority for digital media, Arcom, intervened, who strongly asked that these materials were removed, highlighting the negative impact on the mental and physical health of the youngest, in particular the most vulnerable and easily influenced ones.
It was actually the French government, first, to raise the problem in front of the European Union. The report came from the Minister of State for Digital Affairs, Clara Chappaz, and led, last April, to the start of a targeted campaign to push Tiktok to block the hashtag #skinnytok. At that moment, according to data collected through Google, the tag had about 38,000 public posts on the platform.
On June 1st, the confirmation came: Tiktok voluntarily decided to disable the search for hashtag. To communicate it was the same Chappaz on X, talking about “a first collective victory“. The decision did not arrive legally, but as an autonomous choice of the social giant.
What really changes?
The posts connected to the hashtag have not been deleted one by one. However, those who try today to look for #skinnytok are automatically redirected to a page dedicated to mental health support. In fact, by typing the key word in the search bar no longer appear video or images. A step forward, even if limited.
In fact, the phenomenon continues to change shape. Removed a hashtag, others appear with new names. Like the one that plays on the assonance between “Waste” (loss) and “waist” (life), to spread the same toxic content in a disguised way: images of skeletal bodies and dangerous food suggestions.
Finally, some states are now evaluating, together with the EU, new radical strategies to protect children and teenagers on social media, in particular those most exposed to harmful content. The #Skinnytok blockade was only a first signal, but the problem, as often happens online, is far from being solved. And new hashtags are ready to be generated.
