TikTok's algorithm exposed users, particularly young people, to pro-eating disorder content, with the platform banning six accounts after investigations revealed harmful content remained accessible despite prior bans.
TikTok faced criticism for its algorithm promoting harmful eating disorder content to users, particularly young people aged 16-24 who comprise 41% of its 800 million active users. The platform's For You Page algorithm showed users pro-anorexia and pro-bulimia content, and continued to serve similar content if users engaged with it. In December, TikTok banned six accounts after a Guardian investigation found pro-anorexia material remained searchable despite previous content bans. The platform had previously banned hashtags like #proana and #anorexia which had accumulated 2.1 million and 446,000 views respectively, redirecting users to support pages. However, users could bypass these bans by searching for terms without hashtags or using common misspellings. The app's algorithm meant that if users engaged with harmful content, TikTok would continue showing them similar material, creating what experts described as a 'vicious cycle' that could escalate eating disorders. Body image influencer Danae Mercer noted that such communities 'massively fuel eating disorders, helping them become a cycle where the illness is encouraged, tips are shared, and being sicker is applauded.' TikTok stated it would redirect users searching for eating disorder content to the National Eating Disorder Association helpline and prohibit ads promoting fasting apps to under-18s.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
AI that exposes users to harmful, abusive, unsafe or inappropriate content. May involve providing advice or encouraging action. Examples of toxic content include hate speech, violence, extremism, illegal acts, or child sexual abuse material, as well as content that violates community norms such as profanity, inflammatory political speech, or pornography.
AI system
Due to a decision or action made by an AI system
Unintentional
Due to an unexpected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed