Instagram struggles to control content related to deadly eating disorders amid crackdown. The social media platform is still failing to address the issues by banning posts that encourage people to starve themselves.
'Eating Disorder' Post on IG
Instagram struggles to control content related to deadly eating disorders amid crackdown.
According to an updated report by The New York Post, Instagram is still facing problems in dealing with posts that urge people to love eating disorders. The report revealed that recent searches on the platform involve accounts that embrace such a mentality.
Particularly, usernames such as "be_skinnyb-ch" and "theprettiestareskinniest" exhibit content that condone having these conditions. It seems that comments on the thread are encouraging people to starve themselves to achieve them.
The Facebook-owned company implies its rules of allowing posts about people who are coping up with bulimia and anorexia. This is to inform others to be aware of what's happening in their lifestyle.
While Instagram allows this regulation to take action on the platform, it still fails to ban posts that violate its guidelines including those that embrace self-starvation and self-harm.
Related Article: Tiktok, Instagram, Pinterest Feature Eating Disorder Contents for NED Awareness Week
Per Stephanie Oywa, the spokesperson of Meta, the company does not permit such content to spread on the platform that's why they are removing accounts that post about them. She added that the tech firm uses its technology and the power of the community to delete these posts as quickly as possible.
Following The Post's report about the removal of IG accounts last month, the news outlet said that the social media site continues to fail in effectively enforcing its set rules to the users.
The unrealistic ideals are also present in ByteDance-owned video sharing platform TikTok which was criticized for allowing pro-eating disorder clips, CNET reported. According to others, the teens would be the most affected people who could imitate what they watched on the videos.
Eating Disorder Cases in the US
Again, the Post wrote in its report that many users have been seeking advice to learn starving themselves to achieve their desired figure. One post said that people should eat fewer than 2,4000 calories for a week. Another commenter wrote that a grumbling stomach is actually "applauding."
With that, experts are growing worried about these posts. In the United States alone, 9% of the population or over 10,000 Americans are "directly killed" every year by eating disorders.
The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders said that such conditions account for the second-most deadly illness after an opioid overdose.
To solve the cycle, Instagram addressed the issue by blocking hashtags that embrace anorexia. This would drive away people to avoid seeing similar posts and other related terms. However, users could still ignore these suggestions and continue seeing the photos depicting a skinny girl or an obese boy.
Back in April, several health advocacy groups called out Facebook (now Meta) for its handling of IG posts concerning image-obsessed plans for children. At that time, many petitions surfaced to stop the platform from doing this dangerous trend.
In another report by Tech Times, several EU restaurants are now beginning to serve 3D-printed meat. According to the tech site, it's much healthier than real meat because it is plant-based.
Read Also: Instagram Rolls Out New Self-Harm Prevention Tool That Allows Users To Help Friends In Need
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Joseph Henry
