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Lingerie Brand Calls Out TikTok For Removing Videos Featuring Plus-Sized Models and Models Of Color
A lingerie brand took to Twitter and accused TikTok of disproportionately suppressing the company's video content which included plus-sized women, women of color and disabled people, BuzzFeed News reported.
The New York-based lingerie company Adore Me made the accusations in a 22-part tweet thread outlining the company's differing experiences trying to post videos of people who "look different," video examples and even some consistent reporting about problematic policies at TikTok.
Adore Me's thread began with an intentional announcement they were serious and planned to be heard.
They absolutely were heard.
Thousands retweeted the post and news outlets picked up the story. Adore Me began by explaining their understanding lingerie presents more consideration than some other content.
And yet, they shared how much worse TikTok seemed to be about handling it than other platforms.
A report by The Intercept was included to back up their claim.
That article included internal memos from TikTok showing employees were advised to make sure the platform did not recommend videos including:
"Abnormal body shape, chubby, have obvious beer belly, obese, or too thin (not limited to dwarf, acromegaly)"
TikTok's response?
The company told The Intercept the documents, "represented an early blunt attempt at preventing bullying, but are no longer in place, and were already out of use when The Intercept obtained them."
But according to Adore Me's VP of strategy Ranjan Roy, the discrimination felt alive as ever:
"At first we just kind of assumed, Lingerie, a new platform, maybe they're being more aggressive on brand safety."
However, when Roy saw TikTok treated two similar videos very differently—the one created by a Black person was taken down and the one created by a White person remained up—he inquired, to no avail.
"As a decently large brand, we'll get a response, and the response is usually 'thank you for the inquiry, we're looking into it,' and then absolutely nothing from there,.
So Adore Me took the same inquiry to the court of public opinion in the remainder of the recent Twitter thread.
Adore Me posted some of the videos TikTok took down.
Shine on, ladies.
The Twitter community expressed how grateful they were for Adore Me's vocal advocacy.
If the Twitter comments are any indication, here lies an example of how one company successfully managed to be an ally, play a small part in enacting change toward inclusivity and even market themselves without it being distasteful.