Extreme Diet Content Should Not Be Incentivized, Meta Oversight Board Says

“ Meta should amend these insurance to well meet its human rights responsibilities , given the enquiry showing that users , especially adolescents , are vulnerable to harmful diet - have-to doe with content , ” the Oversight Board say in a new typeface determination shared exclusively with Gizmodo .

“ It ’s authoritative that Meta should not cater financial benefit to create this eccentric of message , ” the Board impart .

Those policy recommendations were part of a young case decision roll around two controversial Facebook video posts from 2022 and 2023 . The first video recording have a human being interviewing a char in Thailand who ’s recount her experience exist on a dieting of only fruit juice . The cleaning lady claim she bar eating solid solid food because she antecedently suffered from cutis issues and self-conceited legs . She claims the succus dieting handle some of those skin problem , gave her improved focus , and left her with a “ feeling of lightness . ” It also result in her quickly losing 22 hammering .

Photo: Photoongraphy (Shutterstock)

The second video , filmed in 2023 , take the same human filming the charwoman a year later to conform to up on her dieting . When the valet de chambre ask the now extremely thin woman about her weight loss , she reportedly claimed she had not lost weight , but instead , had disgorge “ four kilogram of impurities . ” She went on to say she wants to begin a “ prana , ” which she described as hold up “ only on energy , ” no food at all .

Extreme diet posts didn’t break Meta’s rules

In its 15 - page determination released today , the Oversight Board carry on Meta ’s decision to keep the videos up and agreed neither of them rose to the level of violating the companionship ’s policies around self-destruction and self - combat injury . Though the contentedness in the video clearly describe a potentially dangerous diet , the Board determined it did n’t “ advance , encourage , coordinate , or provide instruction for eating upset . ” Even the substance abuser ’s reference of the “ pranic journey”—which the Board acknowledges can be super dangerous — still did n’t violate the road map because it was “ descriptive in nature . ”

But just because the content does n’t meet the threshold for remotion does n’t mean it could n’t puzzle some harm . The Board for the most part accord with the appealers who feared content like this be in particular harmful for teenager and teen girls , who studiesrepeatedlyshoware susceptible to anorexia and eating disorder content on social media .

Oversight Board says Meta should not create financial incentives for extreme dieting content

Both of the posts under review were part of Meta ’s Partner Monetization Program , which gives God Almighty the opportunity to garner money from posts when Meta runs advertizement against them . These types of advertising - generating post are demand to stay by Meta ’s at time nonindulgent Content Monetization policies . Even there , however , the Board found that the posts still were n’t in infraction . They trust that needs to change .

In a non - binding recommendation , the Board suppose Meta should align its policies so that it does not give creators a financial motivator to post uttermost dieting capacity . The Board says that ’s all the more important given the popularity of lifestyle influencers on both Facebook and Instagram . A smaller minority of the Oversight Board ’s extremity went a step further and believed these types of video should be restrain to only users over the eld of 18 .

“ The majority of the Board considers the omission of ‘ extreme and harmful diet - related content ’ as a restricted category in Meta ’s Content Monetization policies a blazing and concerning one , ” the Board wrote .

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Meta , in its response to questions from the Board , enunciate it did n’t want to over- or under - enforce on subject matter “ related to body trope or wellness condition . ” rather , the company said it require its social weapons platform to be spot for people to openly share their experience and journeying around body image and ego - acceptance . Meta , according to the Board , said it did not view fruit succus - only diet an eating disorder . Meta did not immediately respond to Gizmodo ’s take after - up questions .

The Oversight Board determination comes just one hebdomad after41 states sued Metaover allegations that Facebook and Instagram are harmful for adolescent and tyke . The cause , and others before it , argue Meta place profits over base hit by dish up potentially harmful content for children that ’s likely to repel engagement . Meta , in reply , channelise to areas where it has added new safety gadget tools for unseasoned users over the years .

Though faculty member and researchers are still mixed on the overall effect social medium has on young users ’ ontogeny , a growing eubstance of research has shownlinks between high social media usage and eat disorders . U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy cited some of those studies in a recentpublic advisory report , in which he articulate there are “ plentiful indicators ” that societal media poses a “ profound risk of scathe ” to baby ’s mental health and growing .

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