TikTok beauty queen says she was banned because of 'gruesome' acne

A 16-year-old TikTok beauty guru apparently had her account blocked by the platform because her acne was considered “gruesome content.”

In a report from BBC, Eva, who is a UK content creator and reigning Miss Teen Galaxy York, told the outlet that she was on a mission to challenge the perceptions of the skin condition.

She said she made her TikTok account to help encourage and provide advice to others who may be going through the same thing.

But, her initial account was removed without warning for neglecting to abide by the platform's protocols.

"It didn't fit them because of my skin, because it was gruesome content," Eva told BBC Radio York.

She also revealed that she emailed the company about the situation but didn’t let the situation “bring” her down and made an "even better" account the following day.

A TikTok spokesperson told BBC that they acknowledge they “don't get every moderation decision right.”

They also decided to reinstate Eva’s account.

The pageant queen said she had cystic acne for more than two years, which was all over her cheeks and chin.

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Eva said that it even made her feel down about herself in the beginning, and she didn’t want to leave her house.

Acne is a skin condition that happens when hair follicles get plugged with oil and dead skin cells, causing lesions or pimples.

"It was really bumpy, and it was really hard to cover up,” she said.

Thanks to medical treatment, Eva’s skin has been better, which prompted her to share her journey in the first place.

"Just because you have blemishes on the outside, it doesn't mean you are not beautiful,” she said.

As the current Miss Teen Galaxy York, Eva is set to compete in the national finals in March.

Fortunately, acne wasn’t an issue in the pageant realm, which Eva said is welcoming to all.

Her older sister Olivia was also a pageant girl before she was, and she didn’t really plan on getting into it.

But when Eva saw how her sister made friends and grew as a person, she decided to “give that a go.”

Essentially, she said pageants were more about the contestants' charity efforts than their appearance.

Eva happens to fundraise for mind and cancer charities.

If all goes well at the national finals in March, Eva will compete in the US.

Indy100 reached out to TikTok for comment.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.