“Transforming your body has never been so simple! Whether you want to lose weight, improve or accentuate any part of your body.” This is the slogan of an application that offers artificial intelligence to alter the bodies of women that TikTok is promoting on its platform. Among its tools are a “waist reducer” or a “perfect breast editor”, which includes shapes such as “teardrop” or “super hot” with the aim of making the image “more popular” on networks.
TikTok has advertised this app for several weeks with multiple videos and inviting its users to download it. As elDiario.es has been able to verify, all versions of the advertisement focus on tools for editing photographs to increase the breast “in a realistic way.” Furthermore, several of them use as a basis the image of a content creator who has not given her permission to do so, the affected person has confirmed to this medium.
“I have had constant messages for two weeks from people asking me if I am advertising for that type of application when it is a lie. It is a little overwhelming that your image is circulating on a social network of which you are not even a user and on top of that with such advertising,” laments the young woman. The app is promoted for people over 17 years of age.
TikTok has assured that it has removed the ads after being contacted by elDiario.es. Official sources of the social network have attributed its publication to “errors in moderation” and the large amount of advertising that circulates on the platform. They indicate that their rules for advertisers veto the use of AI to show the “before and after” of modified content, although they have not made reference to the sexist nature of the advertising.
The social network created in China has a library of ads where it claims that all those that appear on the platform are registered. It is a transparency tool that all large social networks have and that allows you to know the audience segment to which the advertised content or the money invested has been directed. However, unlike its competitors, TikTok’s library does not allow a reverse search of ads if the identity of the person or company that paid for the promotion is not known.
This medium has been able to verify that only one of the versions of the advertisements (of a minimum of four) has accumulated 26,200 views as of this Wednesday. The promoted application is developed by a studio based in the tax haven of Delaware (USA). Those responsible have not responded to this media’s request for information. Nor to the complaint and request for removal of the ads expressed by the content creator whose image they have used without her consent, issued on October 18.
Against “unattractive” users
This promotion of sexist ads comes just after a leak brought to light a large number of communications between senior executives of the social network in which they expressed concern about the presence of “a large volume of unattractive subjects” on the platform. . The revelations are part of a judicial investigation that is being carried out by several US state attorneys general against the social network and indicates that it modified its algorithm to reduce the visibility of these people.
“By changing TikTok’s algorithm to show fewer ‘unattractive subjects,’ [TikTok] “took active measures to promote a narrow beauty standard even though it could negatively affect its young users,” highlights the lawsuit by state prosecutors against the social network. Regarding these leaks, TikTok claimed that it “carefully selects misleading quotes and takes outdated documents out of context to misrepresent our commitment to community safety.”
The company also criticized the American media for taking advantage of a judicial error to access information that was “under summary secrecy.” The main revelation that has come to light since then was that its managers knew that there were adults using the app to try to bribe minors to get naked live.
The effect of filters and apps to alter the image with AI
Although TikTok has removed the ads to which this information refers, since its arrival in Spain the app has been at the center of the ethical debate about the use of “beauty filters” powered by AI. The reason is the harmful effects that repeated use of these can cause on the mental health of users by setting standards that are unattainable in real life.
Especially in those of the youngest. “There is body dissatisfaction especially due to the use of filters, since perfection is sought and symptoms of anxiety, low self-esteem end up appearing… It is called body dysmorphia. selfie“Priscila Bueno, a psychosocial technician who answers calls at the FAD Juventud Foundation, explained in conversation with this medium. For this matter, “they call mostly girls, but they do not identify that they have a problem, they report that they are not comfortable with their body or they have anxiety… And there we see the relationship with the networks, since they use them to manage their stress.” ”, he highlighted.
“At this stage, comparison with others is basic. You look for groups of equals, you look for your place. External references are very important. If in that search you have references that are not real, we are lost: you compare yourself with something that does not exist and your level of demand is tremendous,” says Montserrat Lacalle Sisteré, professor of Psychology and Educational Sciences at the Open University of Catalonia.
As has come to light in the leak of internal documentation, TikTok employees suggested the company “offer users educational resources about image disorders” and create a campaign “to raise awareness about low self-esteem problems ( caused by excessive use of filters and other problems). They also proposed adding some type of notice before using the filters that would include “a statement raising awareness about filters and the importance of positive body image and mental health.” The social network did not take the initiatives into account.
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