INFO Tech&Co – The Chinese platform believes that videos consisting of creating scars on the face do not meet its definition of self-harm.
These are short video sequences that accumulate hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok. They feature young users pinching their cheeks, before rotating them with their fingers, in order to create a scar on their face.
“No self-harm”
A dangerous practice, which could leave permanent traces, alert dermatologists. Despite everything, TikTok will not delete publications encouraging young users to create these superficial wounds, announces the Chinese company to Tech&Co. It considers that they are not contrary to its conditions of use.
According to TikTok rules, the publication of videos inciting self-harm is prohibited. But as the platform explains to Tech&Co, pinching your cheek to reveal a scar does not correspond to self-harm in your eyes. For the time being, TikTok does not specify whether this decision was taken in consultation with doctors or psychologists.
Despite everything, TikTok announces that it wants to limit the scope of these videos: the social network promises to no longer recommend them in the algorithmic thread of users, called “For you”. On February 13 at midday, however, these videos were still highlighted by TikTok after a simple search related to the word “scar”, while videos warning users about this practice were still relegated to the background.
