Teenager explains how Instagram and social media ‘fuelled the fire’ of her anorexia
She is desperate for changes to social media policy to be made and wants to prevent other young people from stumbling across dangerous online content.‘It started off with just trying to eat healthier and exercising a bit because I felt fat – even though I wasn’t. Then, when I started to weigh myself and saw the number go down, I felt proud of myself and like I was achieving something.
‘I have been there and I hated it, but there is nothing you can do because it’s the voice in your head telling you all these negative things and you believe them. ‘We have never allowed content that promotes or encourages eating disorders and will remove it as soon as we are made aware of it – either through in-app reports or the technologies we have to help us detect it.’But Emily’s experience of witnessing posts like this before they were removed had a really damaging effect.
‘There are many accounts which actively encourage anorexia. This is mind-blowing to me, because anorexia is one of the deadliest mental health conditions. ‘When I was deep in anorexia’s grasp, seeing these photos on Instagram really fuelled the fire,’ she tells us. Emily agrees. She thinks there needs to be changes, but that the onus is on social media providers and not the users.
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