TikTok announces today that they are taking some small steps to help people affected by eating disorders. To do so, it is partnering with the National Eating Disorder Association (or NEDA) to hold a week of eating disorder awareness, and the implementation of two new features aimed at providing resources and support to those what it needs.
If a user searches TikTok for terms like ‘proana’ (abbreviation for ‘pro-anorexia’), or ‘eating disorder’, the app will show support resources, along with NEDA’s phone number. Currently, only the support number is searched by the terms, but the new interface also gives users advice on how to deal with an eating disorder.
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The company also plans to place a PSA on hashtag pages that may contain triggering content, such as the #WhatIEatInADay page. The PSA will include a link to NEDA’s helpline, as well as a number of users who can send an SMS for crisis support.
TikTok faces the same problem as many other social media apps: how can you not stop users from publishing or stumbling across potentially intrusive and harmful content? TikTok has tried to deal with the content of eating disorders in the past, but users report that it still appears. While today’s announcement does not affect the moderation of the content, it can hopefully help people who need help find it easier.