TikTok has allegedly deleted some posts linked to health remedies for those below the age of 18.
These ailments were those providing aids for conditions like migraines, weight loss, and epilepsy. And that’s when critics stepped in to accuse the app of posing serious health risks to children.
The news has gone viral online because as we all know, TikTok is a leader in terms of popularity with the youth. Therefore, many people feel it has a huge responsibility on its shoulders of putting the right content out there.
TikTok made the decision to eradicate such postings after a famous journal related to pharmacology went public with the shocking findings of teens being given drugs with prescriptions like weight loss pills.
In the same way, we saw the journal mention how ads linked to drugs to combat addiction, drinking, and migraines were also made popular thanks to the app. This is when a young user who was determined to be just 16 was found to be purchasing them.
Health experts claim that such remedies are extremely detrimental to one’s health. And they are designed to suppress one’s appetite so, in the end, you eat less and lose weight through hazardous means. The results are there and people are running after the magic pills, despite knowing what hazards are attached.
The medication is called phentermine and any products based on the same phenomenon went viral online and were seen getting promoted on the platform. And before we forget, the drug isn’t even licensed for being used in the United Kingdom.
The journal adds that after spending 90 minutes taking a glance over the app, the researchers were able to notice how 31 of the app’s most famous posts had marketing related to diet pills. This would assist those wishing to lose some weight.
But doctors are issuing warnings against the trend and say it’s just unbelievingly harmful to anyone, adults or kids. Some of them have been linked to causing birth defects as well as major side effects after use.
No matter what your age is, diet-related matters are extremely sensitive and these ones especially have no evidence-based support through literature. And if you’re below the age of 16, you are definitely more prone to suffering serious consequences.
Meanwhile, another top professor has shed light on how some other drugs are up for sale. This includes topiramate. It’s designed to eliminate epilepsy and other matters like migraines but has never been outlined to treat weight issues.
TikTok says it’s taking the matter really seriously because they take people’s health as their top concern. And anything that fails to meet their community guidelines is getting removed as soon as possible. They vow to continue to take action against such decisions.
The journey claims that it’s happy to see the app take the issue seriously and delete some video content but not everything that was outlined has been removed. Common actions that were found included the likes of deleting videos and banning plenty of accounts that sold weight loss drugs.
As it is, TikTok has been on the radar for quite some time now for allowing sweets based on cannabis that look like gummy bears and skittles to get sold across its website.
A lot of growing research has pinpointed how so many young girls are now happy with the way their body appears and most of them are aged between 10 to 15.
They consider celebs on social media as their ideal role models and are willing to through dangerous attempts to lose weight. And seeing these figures jump over the years has so many worried. So as you can see, social media really has a powerful role in controlling young minds.
