Tiktok urged to do more to curb pro-anorexia content
THE Tiktok social networking platform is fuelling eating disorders as young people are using the site to request “anorexia coaches”, The Daily Telegraph has found in the wake of Nikki Grahame’s death.
Users were also discovered asking others to send them mean comments about their appearance to motivate them to further restrict their diet.
Charities have condemned the findings as “incredibly disturbing” and called on Tiktok to take “urgent steps” to stem content that presents eating disorders as a “lifestyle choice”.
Tiktok has said it already bans eating disorder-related hashtags and promotes helpline numbers on its site.
The findings come after Grahame, a Big Brother contestant who found fame on the Channel 4 show in 2006, died on Friday.
The 38-year-old had recently been booked into a specialist clinic to be treated for an eating disorder she had been battling since her teenage years.
News of the star’s death prompted renewed scrutiny of the amount of “proana” – shorthand for pro-anorexia – content circulating on Tiktok, a videosharing network that is particularly popular with young teenagers.
In December, Tiktok announced it was launching an investigation into proana content after reports of it appearing widely on the network.
Four months after the company’s commitment, a Telegraph investigation found explicitly pro-anorexia videos easily accessible on the site, which is deemed suitable for children aged 13 and above. Among the posts were some asking other users to become their “ana coaches” to teach them to eat less.
Another message requested users to join them in a fast to encourage them not to eat for multiple days. Some posts asked users to provide “meanspo” (mean inspiration) in the form of unkind comments to spur them on.
Following the findings, Tom Quin, director of external affairs at the charity Beat said: “It is incredibly disturbing to see such content shared so freely on Tiktok. So-called ‘pro-ana’ or ‘pro-mia’ content, which portrays eating disorder behaviours as a lifestyle choice, can be very dangerous for those affected or vulnerable.
“However, we also know that such content is overwhelmingly made or shared by those already unwell, as opposed to anyone doing so maliciously, so we would also be concerned that the people involved aren’t getting the help they need.”
Tiktok said it had banned content “depicting, promoting, normalising, or glorifying eating disorders” and that users who search for proana key words were directed to the Beat helpline.