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

Posted by BeauHD on from the tighten-the-reigns dept.

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."

47 of 94 comments (clear)

  1. So, I suppose this isn't all eating disorders by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 3, Insightful

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

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

    --
    Do you have ESP?
    1. Re:So, I suppose this isn't all eating disorders by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      So what denotes an eating disorder?
      - Not eating fish because I don't like the taste.
      - Eating strange things like airplanes or sour herring?

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    2. Re:So, I suppose this isn't all eating disorders by alvinrod · · Score: 3, Insightful

      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.

    3. Re:So, I suppose this isn't all eating disorders by lsllll · · Score: 4, Funny

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

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

      Dude, a little warning would've been nice!

      --
      Is that a roll of dimes in your pocket or are you happy to see me?
    4. Re:So, I suppose this isn't all eating disorders by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      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.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    5. Re:So, I suppose this isn't all eating disorders by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 2

      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.

      I actually stumbled across that while looking for "feeder". I was familiar with that term from something I'd seen about the disorder before. It was a couple who were into that, and the "goal" was for the woman to become immobilized by obesity and rely on the boyfriend for both the feeding and - not to put too fine a point on it - cleaning the bed pan.

      The "feeder" tag has some other stuff in it, but "feedee" and "feedeegirl" came up there as hashtags alongside "feeder". Obviously there are no other meaning for "feedeegirl".

      This is as dangerous as anorexia or bulimia, but I doubt it's on their radar.

      --
      Do you have ESP?
    6. Re:So, I suppose this isn't all eating disorders by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 1

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

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

      Dude, a little warning would've been nice!

      I had no warning, so you get to suffer alongside me.

      --
      Do you have ESP?
    7. Re:So, I suppose this isn't all eating disorders by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

      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.

      Why would they? More people equals more clicks equals more money so unless you are actively harming that why would they stop you? I'd like to talk to anyone who thinks they are doing this for people about this bridge I have for sale.

      --
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    8. Re:So, I suppose this isn't all eating disorders by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      a little warning

      "Little"?

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
  2. Surely they will also ban by DFurno2003 · · Score: 1

    #HealthyAtAnySize

    1. Re:Surely they will also ban by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Eating disorders exclude eating too much (according to the Internet Gestapo).

  3. Sooo.... by argStyopa · · Score: 2

    ...have we just completely given up on people being responsible for themselves?

    I mean, if someone - even an "influencer" (what a fucked-up term) - says "do this shit" are people just so spineless and personality-less that they just sheeplike do what they're told?

    --
    -Styopa
    1. Re:Sooo.... by clonehappy · · Score: 3, Informative

      Yep, just another slide down the "progressive" fetish of being saved from yourself by people who just absolutely, positively know better than you.

      And as other have said, I'm sure this is only going to be selectively applied to skinny people, but that's not even the biggest problem. The fact that any company would censor their users (obviously unless it's illegal content) and the users put up with it proves exactly how spineless and sheeplike the people who use these kinds of services are in the first place.

      If you kill yourself from not eating because you base your self-worth on what an "influencer" or someone else on these cesspits of narcissism think of you, well, here's your fucking Darwin award. I don't give a single fuck.

    2. Re:Sooo.... by alvinrod · · Score: 1

      What if you're really into chowing down on box. That could be classified as a type of eating disorder.

    3. Re:Sooo.... by clonehappy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      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.

    4. Re:Sooo.... by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      [Why can't] people [be] responsible for themselves?

      It's capitalism in action: if Instagram gets a reputation for not being eating-disorder-friendly, it may end up on ban lists published by eating-disorder organizations, and lose customers.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    5. Re: Sooo.... by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Translation into modern English, please.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    6. Re:Sooo.... by Agent0013 · · Score: 1

      Maybe we should encourage more shaming and name calling for people. If others see how badly these people are treated, they won't want to copy them.

      --

      -- ssoorrrryy,, dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh oonn.. -Quote found on actual fortune cookie.
  4. More censorship gets set by AHuxley · · Score: 1

    From history.
    To news.
    Politics.
    Memes and funny political cartoons.
    Movie script reviews.
    Comments about bad religions and spreading faith.

    Now its images and words used that needs some new curating. Whats "searchable" and what will be allowed to be found.
    What topic is next for some extra censorship and gets to be made unsearchable using powerful tools?

    Whats the next "sin" that needs new filters on the "internet?

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    1. Re:More censorship gets set by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Calling measured data as fake news and calling opinion as the truth so that data can be censored and opinion not.

    2. Re:More censorship gets set by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

      Whats the next "sin" that needs new filters on the "internet?

      Nice straw man you’ve erected there. I’m not sure how you made the jump from mental illness to “sin” though.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    3. Re:More censorship gets set by DogDude · · Score: 2

      The Internet isn't censored (outside of China) at all. What are you talking about, exactly? I can find anything at all on the Internet.

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    4. Re:More censorship gets set by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 2

      From history.
      To news.
      Politics.
      Memes and funny political cartoons.
      Movie script reviews.
      Comments about bad religions and spreading faith.
      Burma Shave.

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    5. Re:More censorship gets set by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      Re: The original of the term 'to “sin” in an internet context?
      The term "sin" in the context of the internet needing curation. The word "sin" was from a speech in 2018 :)

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    6. Re:More censorship gets set by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      And yet here we are in the free "West" with terms like unsearchable, filters, alternative spellings and no results.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    7. Re:More censorship gets set by DogDude · · Score: 1, Insightful

      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?

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    8. Re:More censorship gets set by AHuxley · · Score: 2

      When "searchability" is adjusted with "filters" its not censorship in the free West?
      Freedom is now only within the content that is allowed to be available?

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    9. Re:More censorship gets set by DogDude · · Score: 1

      I can type any address in my web browser that I want to. I don't know what you're talking about.

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    10. Re:More censorship gets set by stealth_finger · · Score: 2

      The Internet isn't censored (outside of China) at all. What are you talking about, exactly? I can find anything at all on the Internet.

      Make yourself a kiddie porn website and test that theory.

      --
      Wanna buy a shirt?
      https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
  5. Re:Oh boy by clonehappy · · Score: 1

    So it's fat hate if you point out that there are people who promote how healthy it is to weigh 400+ pounds, who are not being targeted for their eating disorders by the nanny-statists, right?

  6. Facebook/the Chinese government censors by Kohath · · Score: 1

    They're coming for your photos and conversations. Every week a new topic is censored by Facebook/the Chinese government.

  7. No examples, all we get is a commentary by pipedwho · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

    1. Re:No examples, all we get is a commentary by clonehappy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      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.

    2. Re:No examples, all we get is a commentary by pipedwho · · Score: 1

      No argument from me. I'm just pointing out that a half arsed 'policing' effort is only hiding a symptom of a much deeper problem. IME, the vast majority of people are weak minded, especially younger ones that are so beholden to peer pressure. The solution IMO isn't to pamper and shelter, but to educate and nurture. Which is how you've described your upbringing.

    3. Re:No examples, all we get is a commentary by alvinrod · · Score: 1

      The advertised ideal male body is probably more attainable (or at least you can get closer to it) than the female one. Even the models that are supposed to have the ideal female form end up airbrushed or photoshopped, because not even they are good enough.

      You probably won't be able to get as ripped as male models without steroids, but you can get physically fit (and probably end up feeling more confident in yourself as a side effect) just by working out enough. If you're not attractive as a woman, there isn't much short of plastic surgery that you can do.

    4. Re:No examples, all we get is a commentary by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      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.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    5. Re:No examples, all we get is a commentary by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      The male models are photoshopped too. They use make-up just the same as the women.

      Not just fashion models either, but regularly for TV models and music stars too. Like when they made Bieber's abs and dick bigger.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    6. Re:No examples, all we get is a commentary by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Literally nobody believes it's just as bad for guys.

      I do, therefore you are wrong, and I win!

      Ha!

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    7. Re:No examples, all we get is a commentary by dinfinity · · Score: 3, Informative

      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?

      Agreed, very annoying. I googled a bit and this article from last year is much more informative:
      https://www.independent.co.uk/...

  8. How are eating disorders different from gender? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If a guy feels like he identifies as a chick and chops his dick off and loads up on hormones to be more like how he feels why can't fat chicks who identify as skinny go on extreme diets to cure their dysphoria?

  9. Are girls really influenced by society to be thin? by Jarwulf · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The media keeps telling me that poor girls are forced by society and culture to starve themselves to be thin but I look around and see the opposite. If such influence does exist, it doesn't seem very effective.

  10. Re:Are girls really influenced by society to be th by Jarwulf · · Score: 1

    Yeah, theres definitely some anorexics but there are far more heifers that need to put down that extra large burger.

  11. Censorship is never good - No buts by AndyKron · · Score: 1

    If it's not God Approved it's not going to be seen. -God

  12. Slow suicide is inefficient and wasteful. by swell · · Score: 1

    People make unhealthy choices, and sometimes promote them online. Cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, cutting and body modifications, sex practices, athletic, religious and dietary extremes... In many cases these choices are subtly related to suicide. There is an (usually unspoken) understanding that death is a possibility, and that it isn't such a terrible outcome.

    I did a quick search on the word 'suicide' and Google offered 460,000,000 results, mostly of a harmless nature I think. Still there are many people worldwide who don't want the tedious diet or alcohol route to death- they want a quick death right now.

    Your SJW friends may well organize to remove every hint of any activity that is dangerous to health and well-being. They might try to remove every mention of these activities and suicide itself. But I think that would be a disservice to many who believe they have a right to die and even a right to suffer from bad behavior.

    --
    ...omphaloskepsis often...
  13. Relativistic morality at its finest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Why just eating disorders?

    What about people who encourage body dismorphic disorders? Or encore anti-vax?

    Now letâ(TM)s get into the fun ones: how about someone who pressures others to get sex change operations, even children? Or on the opposite side of the spectrum, someone who leaves a gay lifestyle and advocates for sexual orientation therapy?

    With no moral grounding, itâ(TM)s basically a question of profit and optics.

  14. Re:Skinny people are genetically defective by techno-vampire · · Score: 2

    The have metabolisms that are inefficient. The only reason the are alive is because the modern western world created a situation of extreme abundance.

    So this is your excuse for being morbidly obese? Why don't you just blame your mom for not making you get out of her basement and spend some time at the gym?

    --
    Good, inexpensive web hosting
  15. Re:What does instagram tolerate? by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

    Are there any limits at all Facebook's intolerance?

    Yes, when the advertisers get wind and threaten to start pulling ads. That's when something will be done.

    --
    Wanna buy a shirt?
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