EU examines TikTok’s ‘SkinnyTok’ content for potential harm to minors
The European Commission is ramping up its investigation into TikTok due to increasing concerns about “SkinnyTok” — a content stream powered by algorithms that targets minors and promotes extreme thinness and potentially dangerous eating behaviors.
SkinnyTok has become a hot spot for videos glamorizing rapid weight loss, “what I eat in a day” posts with dangerously low calorie counts, and body comparison clips, often served up automatically by TikTok’s recommendation system, News.Az reports citing Politico.
Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said at a Tuesday press briefing that an investigation is underway. “We're very well aware of the issue of this trend on TikTok,” he said. “How we deal with harmful algorithms, especially when they target minors, is already part of the investigation that we opened last year in February.”
That EU investigation probes TikTok’s compliance with the Digital Services Act, including how its algorithms may facilitate the spread of content linked to eating disorders. “We’re in exchanges with the member states,” Regnier said, adding that the EU executive “take[s] this of course very seriously to protect our children.”
As the pressure mounts, the Commission’s next steps could set a precedent for how tech platforms are held accountable for harm caused by algorithms.
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