TikTok now blocks search results for #SkinnyTok

TikTok no longer shows search results for the hashtag #SkinnyTok. Critics who supported this block said some videos with that label were promoting disordered eating and other unhealthy or risky diet behaviors. We've reached out to TikTok for comment on this development. France's Minister of State for Digital Affairs Clara Chappaz was one of the politicians leading the pushback against this particular hashtag. She has been campaigning against #SkinnyTok with both French and EU regulators since April . "These videos promoting extreme thinness are revolting and absolutely unacceptable," Chappaz said. "Digital tools are marvellous in terms of progress and freedom, but badly used they can shatter lives … the social networks cannot escape their responsibility." While blocking search results for potentially harmful hashtags is a positive step, it only places hurdles in the path of people who want to seek out similar videos. "Users are savvy," Cornell University professor Brooke Erin Duffy t ... Read full article.