Federal Minister Vanessa Matz has lodged a complaint against TikTok, asserting that the platform promotes anorexia and extreme thinness, and emphasizing the need for accountability in social media content.

In Belgium, eating disorders are increasingly prevalent, with 13% of individuals aged 10 to 64 suspected of having such disorders, and a staggering 90% of these cases are among women.

The rise in eating disorders is particularly alarming among adolescents, with prevalence increasing from 4% in the 2014-2015 period to 9% in 2022-2023, especially among females aged 13 to 24, a demographic heavily engaged on TikTok.

The hashtag #SkinnyTok on TikTok is notorious for promoting extreme thinness and features harmful messages that encourage unhealthy eating habits and endorse dubious weight loss products.

Despite TikTok's efforts to address the issue by implementing warning banners on videos, approximately 600,000 videos tagged with #SkinnyTok remain available, indicating a lack of effectiveness in these measures.

Matz's complaint aligns with the European Digital Services Act (DSA), which has been in effect since February 2024, empowering authorities to take action against social media platforms for illegal content.

The Belgian telecom regulator (IBPT) plans to forward Matz's complaint to the European Commission, which is already conducting an investigation into TikTok for various other concerns.

Should TikTok fail to comply with regulations following the investigation, it could face significant penalties, potentially amounting to 6% of its global revenue.

Matz has a history of advocating for stricter regulations in the fashion industry and believes that robust measures are essential to control harmful content on social media platforms.