Extreme phenomenon on Tiktok. The European Commission has been notified
The French Minister for Digital Affairs, Clara Chappaz, announced on Friday that he had notified the European Commission and the National Massion Regulatory Authority on the ‘Skinnytok’ phenomenon on the Tiktok social network, which promotes extreme weight loss.
‘Skinnytok, a trend that promotes extreme weight loss on the Internet. Unacceptable, « the minister wrote in a message posted on LinkedIn, noting that he notified the European and Authority Commission of Numerique Audiovisuelle (Arom).
« I make the protection of minors online one of my priorities, » she added in a video recording posted on the largest social network in the world, giving assurances that she will not let ‘the platforms escape from their responsibilities.
ARCOM has told AFP that it has already been dealing with this problem, given the risk of public health that this phenomenon can represent. ‘ The authority also stated that it wants to ‘collect the information necessary to characterize this risk in France’ and ‘to find out what means Tiktok has implemented to answer it.’
Contacted by AFP, Tiktok had no immediate reaction. On the network, the keyword ‘Skinny’ was associated with over 500,000 posts until Friday at noon.
These videos, which present mainly young women, contain tips on how to lose weight.
The platform has introduced an prevention message, displayed in the form of a banner above the posts, which leads to a page about food disorders.
At the beginning of March, French deputies approved the creation of a commission to investigate the psychological effects of Tiktok on children and adolescents, because the social network is particularly popular among young people.
President of ARCOM, Martin Ajdari, will be heard by this commission on May 20.
