New TikTok guidelines target weight loss drugs

On May 17, a new batch of TikTok guidelines went into effect targeting weight loss drugs.

The guidelines, issued on April 17, make a variety of content ineligible to appear on our FYPs, including videos showing the use of or promoting weight loss and muscle gain products, as well as other content that "may be fine if seen occasionally, but problematic if viewed in clusters."

The social media platform used before and after transformation posts as an example of a video promoting weight loss products, including medication and supplements.

SEE ALSO: Body neutrality is one way to reject diet culture. Here's what that means.

Videos deemed ineligible for TikTok's FYP can still be found by searching for them or following an account.

The new rules come after the skyrocketing popularity of weight loss drugs like Ozempic and WeGovy. Both are semaglutide and GPL-1 medications that lower blood sugar levels for diabetics with the side effect of weight loss. To date, there are 48,900 videos tagged WeGovy and 87,200 videos tagged Ozempic on the app. While you can no longer see the number of views for a tag on TikTok, back in October 2022 the Ozempic tag had already garnered over 300 million views. The first suggested search for both medications is followed by "results."

The new weight loss drug restrictions were announced alongside other restrictions including all videos posted by users under 16 becoming ineligible for FYPs in an effort to protect children from online exploitation.

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