The aim of this petition is not necessarily to censor expression on social media. However it's recently become an issue on tik-tok due to the nature of its app. Whilst you can follow people on tik-tok, the "for you page" is a feature which allows you to see and interact with content that you have not specifically sought out for. The problem with this is when communities such as the pro eating disorder, also known as the pro Ana or Mia community, post content encouraging and showing their behaviour.

We've seen this happen before on apps like Tumblr but the difference is people actively look for this content and in the name of accountability if you do look for it then you are partially accountable for what you find, however the content on tik-tok getting shown to minors and people who are in the process of dealing with or have recovered from eating issues are affected when a post without a trigger warning flashes up on the screen, and they are ambushed with content almost encouraging and enticing them to partake in these behaviours.

Whilst an increase in trigger warnings are happening they are still rendered ineffective. A proper trigger warning like the ones you see on graphic horror films, give you time to process what you might be putting yourself through and they describe what you could experience such as nausea or even nightmares from watching their content but due to a limited video timeframe (60 seconds) this is impossible to do. 30 to 60 seconds is an appropriate length for an adequate trigger warning.

The problem is that pro Ana accounts and the likes tend to say that they are only pro for themselves but this is not the case by documenting what they do they are inadvertently contributing to the harm of other people as most eating disorders are competitive.

Apps like Reddit are a prime example of proper moderation where feelings can be expressed but as soon as a damaging post is uploaded the moderator will then either take it down, disable the comments, or blur the post and put a warning on it allowing the user to decide whether they want to un-blur the post and view it.

My aim is not to eradicate safe spaces for eating disorders but rather to prevent the spread of them as eating disorders for most people start out as a diet and to loads of people there is no problem with that until your hair starts to fall out, your internal organs shut down, your brain literally starts to shrink and you cannot process information, you fail in school or work and you find it difficult to even stand up or shower without risking your health. Not even to mention the long-term damage such as irritable bowel syndrome and permanent heart problems which then in turn need to be treated by our overwhelmed NHS. Everyone deserves help but let's prevent rather than cure and save a generation the trauma of a disease that never really fully heals.

Reporting them is not enough, unless it is extremely graphic, tik-tok tends to have trouble identifying the issue. I cannot be exposed to this and not even try to prevent another human from suffering the pain of eating problems.

Thank you for even reading all this and taking the time to inform yourself, you are part of the reason we can move forward.