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Influencer Liv Schmidt was blocked from TikTok for controversial weight loss advice. She defends herself as experts warn.
You want to know why one of the most famous fitness influencers, Liv Schmidt, suddenly TikTok disappeared? The 22-year-old influencer, who gained almost 700,000 followers through her controversial “What I Eat in a Day” videos and “Skinny Girl Essentials” series, has been banned from the platform. And for good reason, according to experts. But what exactly happened?
Liv Schmidt reveals how to stay or become “skinny”. © Liv Schmidt / Instagram
Liv Schmidt: Why the “Skinny” influencer was banned from TikTok
- Liv Schmidt has built up a huge fan base through her fitness and diet hacks. Her clips revolve around the ‘perfect’ body and diet tips.
- Experts accuse her of propagating dangerous beauty ideals and actively harming users with her advice.
- The influencer Liv Schmidt has no expertise or training in this area, but patronizingly gives tips on various nutritional supplements that thousands of users celebrate.
- Liv Schmidt says she suffered from body dysmorphia herself in the past and wants to help others with the disease through her teachings.
- Of all things, TikTok, which many consider to be an “anything goes” platform, pulled the plug on Liv in September 2024. TikTok cites “violation of community guidelines” as the reason for the ban, especially in relation to “eating disorders.”
What does Liv say about this? The influencer is not deterred from the skinny way. Even after her TikTok account was blocked, Liv defends her content. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on September 16, 2024, she said: “I like being slim and there is nothing wrong with that.“
Although she herself has struggled with body dysmorphia, she sees her content as “authentic” and is convinced that she “saving one person at a time from obesity“. According to Liv, her success is based on the fact that she does not Diet excludes – she eats what she wants, and that appealed to many followers.
Why are we celebrating someone like that? She is sick and had an eating disorder.
Influencer Liv Schmidt shares her look and the journey to get there on Instagram. © Liv Schmidt / Instagram
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Help with body dysmorphia
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a mental disorder in which sufferers are overly concerned about perceived flaws in their body that are barely visible to others. This constant preoccupation with appearance can lead to social isolation and obsessive behaviors. Therapeutic approaches such as behavior therapy can help to manage the symptoms.
If you need to talk to someone in difficult situations, here is the number of the German telephone counseling service: 0800 1110111.
What does this mean for the influencer career? Liv is still available on other platforms such as Instagram active, where it shares polarizing content without consequences. It remains to be seen whether this platform will soon react with a ban.
But the question remains: Is it right to promote such extreme diet and fitness practices when they are potentially dangerous? Or is it, as Liv says, simply a matter of free choice about what content one wants to consume?
