A young woman suffering from an eating disorder says TikTok is not doing enough to get rid of content that promotes disordered eating.
Eating disorders have increased by a third in the past four years and people are pointing the finger of blame at social media.
Pretoria Gordon reports.
www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018927899/social-media-blamed-for-increase-in-eating-disorders
TikTok is not doing enough to get rid of content that promotes disordered eating, says a young woman suffering from an eating disorder.
Eating disorders have increased by a third in the past four years, and social media has been blamed for the rise.
Earlier this month, TikTok banned the hashtag ‘legginglegs’, which celebrated legs that were said to be thin enough to look good in tight-fitting leggings. The social media platform instead redirects users to the Eating Disorders Association.
It’s another in the long list of hashtags no longer allowed on the app, in a bid to make it a safer place, but that hasn’t stopped ‘Eating Disorder TikTok’.
One young woman – who RNZ has agreed not to name – said content promoting eating disorders was hiding in plain sight, with new code words popping up every day.
www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/510357/the-algorithm-finds-her-social-media-and-the-rise-in-eating-disorders
