Instagram Tightens Eating Disorder Filters (bbc.co.uk)

AmiMoJo shares a report from the BBC: Instagram has placed more hashtags which could promote eating disorders on an "unsearchable" list after a BBC investigation found that users were finding ways around the platform's filters. The photo-sharing network has also added health warnings to several alternative spellings or terms which reference eating disorders, some of which are popular hashtags on the platform. BBC Trending found that certain terms promoting bulimia were still searchable - and that the Instagram search bar was suggesting alternative spellings and phrasings for known terms which some see as glamorizing or encouraging eating disorders In one case, the search box offered 38 alternative spellings of a popular term.

Starting in 2012, the photo-sharing site started to make some terms unsearchable, to avoid users being able to navigate directly to often shocking images, and posts that promote the idea that eating disorders are a lifestyle choice rather than a mental illness. If someone enters the unsearchable terms into the platform's search box, no results will come up. An Instagram spokesperson said in a statement: "We do not tolerate content that encourages eating disorders and we use powerful tools and technologies -- including in-app reporting and machine learning -- to help identify and remove it. However, we recognize this is a complex issue and we want people struggling with their mental health to be able to access support on Instagram when and where they need it."

Comments

So, I suppose this isn't all eating disorders

[Trailer Trash]

I'm all for this, but whaddya bet this will continue unabated:

https://www.instagram.com/expl...

Re:So, I suppose this isn't all eating disorders

[alvinrod]

I think that once it starts having health impacts, it becomes a disorder. People who eat too much, too little, or limit their consumption to a single food probably have something going on. I don't know if it's fair to lump all of it into the category of eating disorder though since there could be other underlying conditions that lead to the behavior, such as some person eating more to cope with depression, which makes the unhealthy behavior a side effect, much like if the person started using drugs instead.

Re:So, I suppose this isn't all eating disorders

[AmiMoJo]

I had a look and it's literally impossible to report problematic hashtags on Instagram. Apparently unless you are major media organization giving them bad press then they don't care.

No examples, all we get is a commentary

[pipedwho]

A commentary that purports that these terms are somehow 'encouraging' these negative direction eating disorders. No mention of the other direction leading to obesity and diabetes.

We don't see any examples of banned terms, and no comparison and in fact completely ignoring all other aspects of media that indirectly induce this sort of thing. How many of these terms are really 'promoting' this?

Look at women's magazines, diet ads, plastic surgery, exercise obsession, and so many other things that imply that physical appearance is king and you must do something about yours. The media/advertising push is that a 'perfect' body is achievable, and by implication 'you' are not perfect and have work to do (and ideally money to spend!).

Emotionally impacted girls (and possibly some guys) become obsessed with what they eat, in a way that is so stressful that the act of eating itself produces stress and anxiety. Imagine, every time you felt hungry, something inside you made you feel nauseous and panicked. The more you try to eat to get better, the more you worry. The more you worry, the harder it is to eat and hold down what you do eat.

Some of these banned/hidden searches may indeed be promoting this stuff. We don't know, because the article doesn't say, and maybe just making stuff up. It might possibly be outright encouragement, or be as simple as some trigger images/words that add to the stress. Meanwhile, the overwhelmingly pervasive sexy/beauty based advertising and other appearance based psychological targeted entertainment get a pass.

Re:No examples, all we get is a commentary

[clonehappy]

But there's exactly the problem, if someone is so weak-minded that they base their self-worth on what a bunch of whores on Instagram say is important, why is it anyone else's job to protect them from themselves.

When I was growing up, it was a common thing in my house to hear about how everything on TV is fake, Hollywood is made of wax and plastic, and not to put too much stock into anything you see or hear in the media. These exact same lessons apply to the internet and social media. It's all fake, and it's all bullshit, and no one should take it very seriously at all.

The socially-responsible thing for any of the companies to do is let these people learn their lessons on their own and stop trying to protect everyone from themselves so we don't end up with yet another generation of adults with the brains of children trying to bubble-wrap the world for everyone.

Re:No examples, all we get is a commentary

[AmiMoJo]

if someone is so weak-minded that they base their self-worth on what a bunch of whores on Instagram say is important

I see you didn't read TFA, and don't have any grasp of basic psychology.

Have you ever noticed how people can do things they normally would not do sometimes, particularly if they are part of a crowd or movement? That's because people's behaviour is governed by certain social norms and what they personally consider to be reasonable, and when they notice that other people are acting beyond those bounds it gives them a kind of permission to do it as well.

People suffering from mental illness are particularly vulnerable to this. Put extremely simply they are already feeling pretty bad about themselves, and then they find a community on the internet that seems to understand them and validates their behaviour and their feelings. You know, kinda like how nerds often feel isolated at school but then find that there are communities of like-minded individuals in clubs and on forums and it makes them feel better about being a nerd.

Calling people suffering from mental illness "whores" and suggesting that companies like Instagram should just let them self harm until they somehow reason their way back to health is fucked up. If you saw someone get seriously injured in an accident would you just say "let that be a lesson to them (assuming they don't bleed to death)"? And many of them are children, and one of the things you should know about kids is that they are still developing mentally and don't have all the tools that adults do to deal with the stuff being thrown at them.

Re:Sooo....

[clonehappy]

Would you care to explain how "knowledge", "expertise", or even "Fake News" have anything to do with Instagram censoring their users for their own protection?

Oh, that's right, anyone who doesn't bow down to today's lesson in political correctness from the technocratic elite is obviously a trailer-dwelling toothless prole who JustDoesn'tGetIt(tm) and should JustShutUp(tm) and let the chosen ones rule over them without any guff.

Re:More censorship gets set

[DogDude]

Searchability isn't an inherent characteristic of the Internet that I'm aware of. The web, email, file sharing, etc. None of these things are searchable. Also, none of these have filters built in. Are you perhaps confusing the Internet itself with private, for-profit corporations that use the Internet or make content available on the Internet?