“Dangerous and harmful,” are just some of the tags that TikTok added to videos uploaded by Liv Schmidt, a fitness influencer who was recently banned from the platform for violating community guidelines.
The 22-year-old managed to amass almost 700,000 followers on the app where her audience, mostly teenage girls, got a steady stream of diet advice focusing on how to stay extremely thin at the cost of their health.
For instance, one of her series called “what I eat in a day to stay skinny as someone who works a 9 to 5,” reveals a diet consisting of a protein bar, a nibble of bread, a small bowl of pasta and two bites of an ice cream for a total 800 calories.
Experts warn that an adult woman should not eat below 1,600 calories per day, but regardless, her followers still maintain that her advice was helpful even after being banned.
“I can’t believe your TikTok got banned. You were so helpful to me,” one wrote.
A fitness influencer got kicked out of TikTok for promoting “disordered eating.” Experts argue she was leading young girls to anorexia
Schmidt, who frames her skinny physique as a personal aesthetic choice, doesn’t believe she was harming anyone, instead stating that she was only giving the audience what they were looking for.
“Weight is a touchy topic, but that’s what the viewers want,” the influencer, who is not a health or fitness expert and works as a coordinator for a private family office in New York, said in an interview.
While her followers, who migrated over to Instagram after her original account was deleted, praise her content to this day, labeling it as “helpful” and “inspirational,” her critics believe it was promoting harmful practices among women, specially teenagers, who are particularly sensitive to topics regarding weight and self-esteem.
@dr_idz @Liv Schmidt ❗️LECTINS MAKE YOU FAT!! 😱❌🌾🍅 #weightloss #fatloss #nutrition #fitness ♬ original sound – Dr Idz (MBBS, MRes, Dip IBLM)
Despite her popularity, TikTok decided to pull the plug on her channel due to a violation of their community guidelines, specifically those contained within the Mental and Behavioral Health section regarding the promotion of “disordered eating.”
The influencer defended her advice, stating that being thin was a personal choice and that her advice was less extreme than other, more widely accepted, diets
Schmidt states that she felt confused and frustrated when she found her account banned. She said she had not been given any prior warnings about her content breaching body image policies and that she was “trying to build something authentic.”
Her content, she explains, was never intended to harm anyone and was instead aimed at professional women who sit at desks most of the day. “For me, it was easier to cut 300 calories from food than burn those calories through exercise, especially if you have a demanding job with little free time,” she said.
@abbeyskitchen You’ve been tagging me in many of these creator’s videos… I think we all need a reminder that “sk!nny” does not always mean “healthy”. #problematic #9to5 #9to5life #officelife #corporate #healthtips ♬ original sound – Abbey Sharp
Schmidt also defended her dieting advice, believing it to be much more nuanced and less extreme than other popular diets such as the “keto diet,” and the “carnivore diet,” which despite being very restrictive, are still allowed on the platform.
“I think my success comes from not cutting out any particular foods,” she explained. “I’m not dairy-free, vegan, or gluten-free. I’m not obsessed with health.”
Instead of accepting her punishment, the influencer created another account, this time with an even more provocative tagline “saving America from obesity one person at a time.” However, this channel was soon taken down as well.
Experts warn that just 10 minutes of exposure to TikTok weight loss content can harm women’s self-esteem and urge the platform to take action
A study by the University of Pisa, Italy, explains that content such as Schmidt’s falls into the umbrella of what’s known as “pro-ana” content, that is material that promotes anorexia and has found popularity on social media platforms like Tumblr, Myspace, Facebook, and TikTok.
“Our study showed that less than 10 minutes of exposure to implicit and explicit pro-anorexia TikTok content had immediate negative consequences for body image,” the study authors explain.
“Psychological harm can occur for young female TikTok users even when explicit pro-anorexia content is not sought out and when TikTok use is of a short duration.”
Experts state that one of the defining characteristics of pro-ana movements is the creation of “support groups,” which are often exclusive in nature.
These groups serve as platforms to share crash dieting techniques and recipes, compete over who can lose the most weight, give advice on inducing vomiting and using laxatives, and even offer tips on hiding the side effects of anorexia from parents and doctors.
Schmidt hosted one of such groups, labeled the “Skinny Group Community Chat,” an subscription-only service where her Instagram followers pay $9.99 a month to share their weight-loss journey with each other.
Some users celebrated her removal, while others argued it was excessive, claiming her “skinny girl” trend was no more harmful than “fat acceptance” content
Netizens were divided over TikTok’s decision to ban the influencer, with some feeling happy that she was taken off the platform, and others praising her message in what they believe is a society that promotes obesity.
“Good. I want better for our youth. Young girls have and will continue to, die due to sh-t like this being peddled on the internet,” one stated.
“There’s something so deeply sinister about a ‘regular’ influencer posting food like this and pretending like it’s normal,” another argued.
“What about all those influencers that promote obesity? Why aren’t their accounts being shut down?” one of her supporters asked.
“I do find it interesting that she gets booted for being ‘dangerous and harmful.’ While some enormous whale is credited with being some kind of brave hero,” another stated.
The influencer has since moved to Instagram and abandoned her niche of sharing dieting advice. The pivot has come at a cost, however, as now she has a tenth of the followers she used to have on TikTok, at only 70,000.
“Dangerous content,” wrote one user, as others joined in to debate TikTok’s decision to ban the influencer
