Report: YouTube Still Recommends Eating Disorder Videos to Teens
Is YouTube failing children by serving harmful eating disorder content or leading the industry with robust child safety protections?
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The Spin
Establishment-critical narrative
Whilst regulation has moved the needle, YouTube's algorithm is still funneling eating disorder content and the continued level of exposure of children to harmful material is still nowhere near good enough. Platforms must be required to stop this content from surfacing at all, and until then, it is much safer to keep kids off these platforms altogether.
Pro-establishment narrative
YouTube's child safety framework goes well beyond what regulators require: dispersion models limit repeated exposure to harmful body-image content, age inference technology restricts mature material, and dedicated child accounts provide layered, expert-informed protections. The system is working, with a continuous investment in safety-by-design proving the commitment is genuine.
