BREAKING: TikTok has announced changes to global ad policy today on something I've been tracking for months - weight loss ads. Here's a thread on those changes plus the sort of content TikTok *was* putting out at the height of lockdown that I could see here in the UK.

broadly these are the changes - but why have they had to introduce them in the first place? let's wind back the clock...

TW as I'll start showing screenshots/vids now.

In May and June, I was constantly being advertised fasting apps or weight loss apps. I am not someone with a history of ED but was fed up of being advertised stuff like this.

This morning I went back to my Saved vids and found the ads I saved from the time still there. This has been seen 4.7m times.

This one is specifically targeted at lockdown weight

After collecting a few of these vids I said 'not interested' on the ad, which is supposed to tell TikTok that I don't want to see content like this advertised to me anymore. Moments later, this is what I was advertised. Not a fasting app but still not what I wanted to see!

I made a TikTok sharing with my followers that I was being advertised these apps and whether other people elsewhere were getting them too. These are some of the responses I got - incl. from under 18s.

This was a great piece by @ImogenWK, whose interview with fasting app Fastic hopefully led to them not allowing under 18s to register on the app in their next update, would like to find out if this is the case... https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/xg8g3d/how-deeply-unsettling-intermittent-fasting-apps-took-over-social-media

Last night, on my For You Page, I was shown the video of a young anorexic in a psych ward that's now had over 11m views. TikTok like all platforms has to balance body positivity and challenging weight stigma with stopping triggering/encouraging imitative behaviour.

TikTok is partnering with the National Eating Disorder Association and supporting Weight Stigma Awareness Week next week - hopefully this will lead to more sensitive and informative content as well as clearer moderation on the platform.

Oh and - the platform is inundated with diet culture content. It very much is welcome to lots of users on the platform diarising their daily calorie count. So their creator saying 'diet culture isn't welcome on TikTok, because diverse voices are' today is a bit confusing

I am a firm believer in social media platforms being *ours* as we populate them with *our* content. If we aren't happy - speak out. If we are happy - rejoice. You all know how much I love content creation on TikTok and others. Let's all fight to make them happy, healthy spaces.

and p.s. if you're new to my content, hello, I report on religion and digital culture for the BBC, I have over 111K followers on TikTok and I'm making a documentary about the app so follow along if you're into all that