TikTok will crack down on influencers who use the video-sharing app to dispense reviews and recommendations about popular weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy.
The ByteDance-owned app, which has more than 170 million users in the US, will stop allowing influencers to upload “before-and-after” photos beginning in May as part of its new set of community guidelines published last week.
The changes include not permitting minors from viewing or sharing content that promotes “potentially harmful” weight loss-related behaviors, including the use of medications.
TikTok — which faces a potential ban in the US — also said it would be cracking down on “potentially harmful weight management” content that includes “diets, medication, or exercise used for rapid or drastic weight loss or muscle gain that may create a long-term health or well-being risk.”
The move is intended to curb content that is perceived as “promoting body types as ideal or perfect, when associated with potentially harmful weight management behaviors.”
Some TikTok users who have amassed a large following complained about the policy change.
“This is 100% discrimination against people with obesity, people with type 2 diabetes, people with chronic conditions, people with health conditions,” Dave Knapp said in a video that was posted to TikTok on Friday.
“If someone with multiple sclerosis goes on and starts talking about their medicine are you going to shut them down too?”
Another influencer, Kim Carlos, who has been posting about the weight-loss drugs since 2022, told Bloomberg News that she has noticed several videos with the hashtags #Ozempic, #Zepbound and #GLP-1 were immediately flagged for review.
“The purpose is to help people,” Carlos said.
She told Bloomberg News that she will focus on bringing content to wide audiences on other platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Clapper — a TikTok rival that has been attracting users who are concerned about the ByteDance-owned app’s future in the US in the wake of a congressional bill that could force the site to shut down.
“If this is how its going to be, where do we go?” Carlos said.
Alexis Clingenpeel, 25, quit her job as a hotel manager last week to pursue a full-time career as a TikTok influencer who posts about her weight loss journey.
Clingenpeel entered into a marketing deal with a telehealth company that pays her to promote its services on TikTok.
But the app started to take down some of her content — stoking fears that she will be permanently banned.
“TikTok is my livelihood and how I pay rent,” she said. “I could lose everything.”
The Post has sought comment from TikTok.
The popularity of the weight loss drugs has led to a surge in demand that has forced some customers to drive as much as five hours to the nearest pharmacy to get treatment.
Last year, Eli Lilly sold more than $5 billion worth of Mounjaro, according to the company. Its revenue last year soared to $34 billion — a 20% increase over 2022.
Zepbound, which is also manufactured by Lilly and is marketed as a weight loss drug whereas Mounjaro is prescribed to treat diabetes, brought in sales of $176 million through Dec. 31, according to Lilly.
Novo Nordisk, the Danish manufacturer of Ozempic and Wegovy, also has raked in billions from the sale of the weight-loss drugs.
Sales of Ozempic generated around $13.9 billion last year while Wegovy brought in around $4.5 billion.
Two-thirds of sales of Ozempic were US-based, while more than 90% of Wegovy’s sales went to customers in the US.
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