A shocking new report has revealed that Instagram is actively promoting content related to extreme dieting and eating disorders to children as young as nine. The news comes several months after the company admitted that there was a problem related to such content on the platform. The admission came following an investigation by Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, whose staff found that the platform was recommending dangerous pro-anorexia content to an account purported to be that of a minor. The company later removed the extreme dieting accounts mentioned in the Senator's complaint, apparently for breaking its policies against encouraging eating disorders.
Having started as a simple photo-sharing app almost a decade ago, Instagram has developed into a full-fledged social media platform, and one that has around two billion total users and one billion monthly active users, as of December 2021. However, with its growing popularity, the platform has also faced several controversies, including reports on how it has made body image issues worse for teens and young women. It was also called out by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration last year for not doing enough to end the flourishing marketplace for illegal drugs on the platform. There have also been reports detailing how content about suicide and self-harm flourish on the platform unabated.
A new report by a children's rights advocacy group has claimed that Instagram's recommendation algorithms push pro-anorexia and eating disorder-related content to nearly 20 million users, including children under the age of thirteen. The report, which comes from nonprofit organization Fairplay, identified 153 'seed accounts,' each with more than 1,000 followers, for spreading such toxic content. The researchers concluded that around 1.6 million Instagram users followed at least one of these accounts, while as many as 88,655 unique users followed three or more. Overall, 20 million Instagram users followed those 88,000-odd unique accounts, and might have been served the toxic content by Instagram's algorithm.
Pro-Anorexia Content On Instagram
As for how these accounts managed to increase their reach as far as they did, the researchers found that most people on the platform that were posting about weight loss or eating issues received recommendations from Instagram to follow other users with similar interests, including accounts that openly encouraged disordered eating. Describing it as Instagram’s 'Pro-Eating Disorder bubble,' the report claimed that Meta earns an estimated $2 million a year from this bubble alone, and a whopping $227.9 million combined from all those accounts who follow this bubble. Much of this income reportedly comes from underage users who are also part of the bubble.
Meta, however, has denied any culpability in the matter, and has blamed the researchers for misunderstanding the entire situation. In a statement to The Hill, a company spokesperson claimed that Instagram decided not to remove content related to disordered eating as it could hurt people who are documenting their recovery from eating disorders on Instagram. It could also cut them off from a sense of community that they've developed on the platform, and increase feelings of desperation and loneliness. The statement also claimed that experts consulted by Instagram advised the company to "strike a balance and allow people to share their personal stories while removing any content that encourages or promotes eating disorders."