YouTube Will Ban Videos Showing ‘Imitable Behavior’ Linked To Eating Disorders Among Young Users - Forbes

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Topline

YouTube announced changes to its community guidelines on handling content linked to eating disorders Tuesday, as social media platforms face increasing scrutiny over their impact on the mental health of young users.

Key Facts

The new policy will expand upon YouTube’s existing rules that ban content that “glorifies or promotes” eating disorders, the Google-owned streaming platform announced in a blog post.

Content about eating disorders that shows “imitable behavior,” like purging after eating, severe caloric restriction, and weight-based bullying based on eating disorders, will also be prohibited.

YouTube said it will take context into consideration when deciding to take down videos, and still allow eating disorder content that is educational, documentary, scientific or artistic, with certain restrictions.

Educational or artistic content on eating disorders may still be deemed inappropriate for all ages, and YouTube may restrict their viewing only to people who are 18 or older.

In addition to this, informational videos about eating disorders will also carry a “crisis resource panel” underneath that will include access to mental health resources for users dealing with eating disorders.

The platform says its new policies were developed in partnership with groups like the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA), Beat Eating Disorders, and Asociación de Lucha contra la Bulimia y la Anorexia (ALUBA).

Tangent

A video by a YouTube creator where they detail their past experience with eating disorders and specific behaviors linked to it while discussing their recovery from the same is mentioned as an example of a type of video that will still be allowed on the platform but will carry an age restriction. In the blog, Dr. Garth Graham, director of YouTube Health, says: “A video about a creator’s eating disorder recovery journey can help start an essential conversation for some that makes them feel less alone, but may be triggering for others.”

Key Background

YouTube’s new rules come at a time when it and other social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok are facing increasing scrutiny from lawmakers over the impact they have on young users. In 2021, the Wall Street Journal published an investigative report that found Instagram’s parent company Facebook (now known as Meta) was aware of the platform’s harmful impact on the mental health of its teenage users, especially young girls. The office of Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) created a fake Instagram profile posing as a 13-year-old girl, and found that the platform recommended content that “[glorifies] eating disorders and self-harm.” TikTok, in addition to scrutiny over its handling of user data, has also faced questions about the content it serves to its younger users. Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), who chairs the House select committee on China, recently referred to the video-sharing app as “digital fentanyl” for teenagers. YouTube has also been at the receiving end of similar scrutiny, with Sen. Blumenthal noting that an account created by his office was easily able to find and watch videos about “extreme dieting and eating disorders” and then started receiving recommendations for similar videos.