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, to create a scar on their faces.
“No self harm”
A dangerous practice, which could leave permanent marks, warn dermatologists. Despite everything, TikTok will not remove posts that encourage young users to create these superficial wounds, the Chinese company announces to Tech&Co. Consider that they are not contrary to its conditions of use.
According to TikTok’s rules, posting videos that encourage self-harm is prohibited. But as the platform explains to Tech&Co, pinching your cheek to expose a scar does not correspond to self-harm in the eyes. At the moment, TikTok does not specify if this decision was made in consultation with doctors or psychologists.
Despite everything, TikTok announces that it wants to limit the reach of these videos: the social network promises to stop recommending them in the users’ algorithmic thread, called “For you”. At noon on February 13, however, these videos were still being featured by TikTok after a simple search related to the word “scar”, while videos warning users about this practice were still relegated to the background.
Source: BFM TV
