Users say harmful content from accounts they do not follow appears even after requests to block it
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The Observer has uncovered seven further groups, with a combined total of almost 200,000 members, openly sharing content that promotes eating disorders. All of the groups were created after Twitter was bought by the billionaire Elon Musk in 2022 and rebranded as X.
Eating-disorder campaigners said the scale of harmful content demonstrates serious failings in moderation by X. Wera Hobhouse MP, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on eating disorders, said: “These findings are most concerning … X should be held accountable for allowing this harmful content to be promoted on its platform, which puts many lives at risk.”
The internet has long been a breeding ground for content that promotes eating disorders – sometimes called “pro-ana” – from message boards to early social media sites including Tumblr and Pinterest. Both sites banned posts promoting eating disorders and self-harm in 2012 after an outcry over their proliferation.
Debbie said she remembers the pro-ana internet message boards, “but you’d have to search to find them”, she said.
This kind of content is now more accessible than ever and, critics of social media companies argue, is pushed to users by algorithms, which serve people more – and sometimes increasingly extreme – posts.
Well then Mr Bychawski, perhaps you and your journalist friends should stop fucking using it then
Wow, it’s too bad that all these people are being forced at gunpoint to use Twitter. If only it were possible to just not go there.
“If you don’t like it don’t use it” isn’t a very good response to unmoderated unsafe content being on a platform.
I agree aside from journalists that love calling out how bad it is while still maintaining a presence on the site, such as the author of the above story.
I never knew there were pro-eating disorder groups out there. wtf
The entire fast food industry is arguably a pro-eatingdisorder group. Over-eating or eating garbage is every bit as harmful as undereating. One could argue that beef hamburgers and obesity are actually far worse than skipping meals when you factor in the environmental impacts
I remember when ‘thinspiration’ websites were common in late 90’s/early 2000’s. It was a toxic cesspool of pro-ana pictures and forums.
Def not my type lol
