A new report accuses TikTok of failing to appropriately moderate a growing "gray market" for GLP-1 weight loss drugs as they continue to surge in popularity.
The content analysis, conducted by gender justice nonprofit UltraViolet, pinpointed hundreds of TikTok accounts promoting unregulated GLP-1 drugs, including GLP-1 alternatives advertised as "research-grade." Accounts often directed users off the platform to purchase drugs on WhatsApp, Discord, and Telegram.
Content about the pharmaceuticals, including the non-FDA approved retatrutide, was easily accessible to users with and without TikTok accounts before and after TikTok's ownership transition in early 2026, the organization found. In addition, the platform's Discover page automatically generated related searches suggesting the sale and purchase of GLP-1s.
Many of the posts specifically targeted women or used photos of real and AI-generated women on account profiles, according to UltraViolet. A large portion of off-market GLP-1 content used harmful messaging about weight loss and appearance, included sexual imagery, or made false claims about women's health, according to the researchers.
UltraViolet reported 202 accounts to the platform for violating Community Guidelines. On average, around one-third of them were removed.
"The volume and accessibility of this content — and the way this content is surfaced and recommended by TikTok’s curation features — suggest the issue is widespread, persistent, and TikTok is not doing enough to stop it," UltraViolet writes.
The organization surveyed the platform in two phases, one prior to TikTok's transition in ownership in late 2025 and one shortly after it was turned over to an American board of investors in early 2026. The analysis notes TikTok updated its Community Guidelines in line with the new ownership before the first phase of the study. The platform also edited its Terms of Service in January.
TikTok's Community Guidelines don't prohibit the discussion or mention of GLP-1 products. The platform also allows pharmaceutical advertising in line with regional laws.
However, the platform prohibits showing or promoting disordered eating or dangerous weight loss behaviors, as well as ads and sponsored posts that are "marketed for weight loss, weight gain, fat reduction, detox, appetite suppressants, or that promote unsafe mental health behaviors." This includes "products that use 'Glucagon-like peptide (GLP), 'GLP-1,' or similar terms in the product title or branding," the company's advertising guidelines state. The policy does not apply to products marketed to support those taking GLP-1 drugs.
In addition, the platform doesn't allow "trading, marketing, or providing access to regulated, prohibited, or high-risk goods and services," or directing users to third-party platforms to acquire such goods. Previously, TikTok explicitly cited both black and gray markets as prohibited "unofficial markets."
"We’ve seen this movie before: Tech oligarchs gain control of huge swaths of the internet and shape the content and ads we see for their own political and financial gain at the cost of user safety and the public good," said UltraViolet campaign director Jenna Sherman. “The twist this time is that we are in an unprecedented age of sophisticated algorithms, groundbreaking weight loss medications, and unhealthy weight-loss obsession. Altogether, it’s a disaster.”
As of publication, TikTok declined to provide Mashable with an official response to UltraViolet's report.
Last week, Novo Nordisk, makers of Wegovy and Ozempic, filed a lawsuit against competitor Eli Lilly, makers of Zepbound and Mounjaro, accusing the pharmaceutical giant of deceptively marketing its drugs. In the first half of 2025, the two companies spent a total of $700 million marketing their drugs.
Many social media users have reported feeling inundated by GLP-1 advertisements, including those who are in active eating disorder recovery and those who have attempted to block posts about GLP-1s and weight management from their feeds.
from Mashable https://ift.tt/Is5aLWd
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