How to block weight loss content on Instagram
Finally, another step forward for the body acceptance movement! You can now block weight loss ads on Instagram.
Meta updated Instagram’s Sensitive Content Control features, adding “body weight control” to its list of sensitive content subjects to limit these triggering posts.
Now you can eliminate weight-loss-related ads and posts from your “Search, Reels, Accounts You Might Follow, Hashtag Pages and In-Feed Recommendations,” according to a statement from Instagram. Users can set the subject matter to receive “More,” “Standard” or “Less” of it. People under 18 cannot opt for the “More” option.
Instagram has a long history of promoting harmful diet culture, with some experts believing that the app has body image issues baked into it.
In 2021, Instagram apologized for its weight loss content and how it affected teenage girls. The app’s default suggested search terms for users included phrases like “appetite suppressant,” which could be seriously harmful to those with eating disorders.
In 2019, thousands of “pro-ana” [pro-anorexic] hashtags and accounts were found on the app, prompting Instagram to add tighter restrictions around weight loss content, hiding such posts from users under 18, and outright banning more dubious content.
“But Instagram has long come under fire from campaigners for its limited enforcement of the ban, in part because of the difficulty of drawing a dividing line between banned ‘pro-ana’ content and conventional weight-loss, fitness, or healthy-eating posts,” according to The Guardian.
With Meta and Instagram under fire for how they can seriously damage users’ health, any steps to improve the user experience are welcome.
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