As part of a recent “outfit advent” series on her page, where she picks a scenario from a cup and styles an outfit to go accordingly, @moeblackx posted a video wearing a pajama set while she decides what outfit to choose.
In another video, now viewed over 42,000 times, @moeblackx, whose full name is Monique Black, says that the video had been removed by TikTok citing “adult nudity and sexual activity.”
Black then shows screenshots of other videos tagged as “Get Ready with Me” — a trend where influencers choose and style their outfits on camera for their followers. The screenshots show videos of other creators with millions of likes where the person in the video is often in their undergarments.
“Before you sit up here and call me bitter, no, no, no,” Black says. “I think everybody should be able to do that, but TikTok only enforces the rules if you’re fat.”
Earlier this year, the social media platform was called out for a similar offense when lingerie company Adore Me said the app was removing videos featuring both models of color and plus-sized models, USA Today reported.
“Adore Me has regularly seen the removal of our content on TikTok that features plus-size, Black, and/or differently abled models and women of color,” Adore Me said in a tweet as part of a thread posted in February about the issue. “This is unacceptable and discriminatory, and we will not stand for it.”
The brand also tweeted out an article from The Intercept published in March 2020 article that said moderators for the app were told to suppress posts created by users deemed too ugly, poor, or disabled for the platform, according to internal documents obtained by outlet.
Black told Newsweek in an email that she started noticing the flagging at the beginning of this year.
“It seemed like the algorithm had changed and views weren’t as consistent as they had been,” she said. “However, over the summer is when I really noticed the problem. Obviously with warm weather comes shorts, bathing suits etc and the influx of showing skin as a plus size creator is what I believe led to the suppression/flagging!”
Black said she first started posting on Instagram and TikTok for fun after she had to stop working as an esthetician due to COVID. She said it started off by people asking about her outfits and clothes and it “snowballed from there.”
She said she decided to speak out on the issue when she realized the impact it was having on her mental health.
“As a creator you’re always pushing yourself to be inventive and do something out of the box,” she told Newsweek. “So when you have those genius ideas that you know your audience will love and then it’s repeatedly taken down and flagged, you feel defeated. I was waking up each day SAD because I truly was worried I would spend hours on content for it to be removed in seconds.”
Other creators commented under the viral video saying that their videos are also getting flagged for seemingly similar reasons.
“[T]his happens to me literally EVERY time [I] post a video where you can see the shape of my body. every. single. time,” one person wrote.
“Facts!!! Legit my video I just posted was under review?!!! Like why?! I’m fully dressed!? Oh because I’m larger than 150lbs,” another creator chimed in.
Black says she does not know if the issue is being addressed internally at TikTok.
“… all I can do is hope so as it’s a platform I truly believe in and love to be on!”
Newsweek contacted TikTok for comment but did not hear back before publication.
