Instagram โคis displaying more content related to โฃeatingโ disorders to teenage usersโ identified asโ struggling with mental health, according to internal Meta โresearch revealed exclusively to Reuters. The documents show the platform’s recommendation algorithms amplified posts about weight loss, dieting, adn body imageโ even after these teens exhibitedโฃ signs of disordered โขeating.Theโข findings raise fresh concernsโข about Meta’s โคability to protect vulnerable young โusers on Instagram,despite repeatedโค pledges to โคprioritize their well-being. Internal Meta reports, spanning from March to โOctober 2022, detail how the platform continued to surface potentially harmful content to a subset of overโ 17,000 teenage users flagged โฃas “at-risk” of eating disorders. โThis issueโค is particularly critical as eating disorders have seen a rise in prevalence among adolescents, โwith potentially life-threatening consequences, andโฃ scrutiny ofโ social media’s role in exacerbating these conditions intensifies.
theโ research revealed that approximately 6% โขof theโ content shown to these teens โฃwas categorized as “eatingโฃ disorder โขadjacent,” meaning โit focused on โคrelated topics without โคexplicitlyโค promoting eating disorders. Though,this figure โขrepresented aโ substantially higher proportion than the 0.8% of โคsimilar content shownโค to a control group โฃof teens not identified as vulnerable.Meta researchers noted the algorithms โคappeared to โคbe “over-optimizing” for engagement, prioritizing content that kept users scrolling, even if โคit was detrimental to theirโ mental โhealth.
one internal document from May 2022 stated, “We โsee โevidence that our recommendations are leading vulnerable teens to โcontent that could exacerbate their body image โissues.”โข Another report, fromโข October 2022, found that the platform’sโฃ algorithms were recommending content related to “extreme weight loss” andโ “fitness” to teens who had previouslyโค engaged with similar posts.
Meta spokesperson, Andy Stone,โ stated the company is “committed to creating a safe experience for everyone,โค especially teens,” and thatโฃ they have โฃintroduced features like “Take a Break” and parentalโ controls to address theseโค concerns. He added โthatโ the research cited represents a โฃsnapshot in time and that Meta has since made changes to its algorithms andโค policies.
However,advocacy groups argue these measures are insufficient. โ”Meta knows this content is harmful and โขcontinues to profit from it,” said Sandon Thompson, a spokespersonโ for the National Eating Disorders Association. “These internal โฃdocuments prove they are prioritizing โคengagement over the โขsafety of their users.” โ
Theโฃ documents reviewed by Reuters are part of a broaderโ trove ofโฃ internal Meta papers disclosed by whistleblower Frances Haugen, and currently being used in ongoing congressionalโ investigations into the โฃcompany’s practices. The findings areโ likely to fuel further โcalls for greater regulation of social media platforms and increased accountability for protecting young users.
