TikTok Alluded To Still Allow Content Promotional Reset For Drug Reduction In Youth

Tiktok is accused of promoting the wrong diet. (photo: doc. unsplash)

JAKARTA - TikTok has been accused of allowing content that promotes prescription drugs as a weight loss aid that reaches teens.

According to a report by The Pharmaceutical Journal, the policy created a new TikTok account, which shows the platform that a 16-year-old user is starting to search for content below #dietpills, looking up close to the top 100 posts.

The Guardian also reported from 100 videos that nearly a third promoted diet pills to lose weight. Under the term "diet pill", organic posts named prescription drugs for epilepsy, migraines, and addiction. Several posts marked by the journal to TikTok were eventually deleted.

In 2020, TikTok updated its policy of banning ads for fasting apps and weight loss supplements and restricting ads to "weight management products" for users aged 18 years and over.

However, a test account by The Pharmaceutical Journal can find posts selling diet pills to teens. Some users also make diarys from daily videos when they take drugs or share photos before and after showing real weight loss.

Health experts told The Pharmaceutical Journal that claims of an unproven diet could be harmful to adults and adolescents.

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Verge, but told The Guardian that controlled substance promotions or trades, including prescribed weight loss drugs, were not allowed on platforms and content that violated the policy would be removed.

Medical care issues marketed as a way to lose weight have previously appeared on TikTok. In January, the platform, along with Instagram, pulled ads from the Cerebral health care startup that linked obesity to ADHD, saying patients may be able to stop eating too much by seeking treatment for ADHD.

TikTok has been forced to respond to malicious diet content on its platform in the past. A detailed report by The Wall Street Journal in 2021 shows how TikTok's algorithms are pushing young girls into diet video and weight loss, sending them to a potentially harmful rabbit hole.

The day before the story was published, TikTok announced it was working on a "verted recommendation" so users wouldn't be flooded with a series of similar content.