YouTube still recommending eating disorder videos to teens, study finds

YouTube is continuing to push harmful eating disorder content to teenagers despite introducing rules designed to stop exactly that, according to new research that raises serious questions about how well the platform is actually protecting young users.

The study, conducted by researchers monitoring UK-based teen accounts, found that the site’s recommendation algorithm was repeatedly serving up videos promoting dangerous eating behaviours, extreme dieting, and body image content to accounts registered to users under 18. And that’s happening even after YouTube updated its policies in 2023, which were supposed to limit such material for younger audiences.

What the research found

Researchers created test accounts mimicking the behaviour of teenagers between 13 and 17 years old and tracked what YouTube recommended over a set period. Within hours of watching a handful of fitness-related videos, the algorithm began surfacing content that experts say could trigger or reinforce disordered eating. Some accounts were served more than 30 harmful videos in a single session.

The content ranged from “what I eat in a day” videos with dangerously low calorie counts to before-and-after transformation clips that researchers flagged as potentially triggering. It’s not subtle material, either. Some videos openly discussed restriction and fasting as weight-loss tools.

YouTube’s rules haven’t been enough

YouTube introduced what it called “tighter safeguards” for teen users in the UK following pressure from regulators and child safety advocates. The platform promised to reduce recommendations of content that could be harmful to younger viewers, even if it didn’t technically violate community guidelines.

But the research suggests those safeguards are failing in practice. The gap between what the platform promises and what it actually delivers appears to be significant. And for teenagers already vulnerable to body image issues, that gap has real consequences.

A spokesperson for a leading UK child safety organisation said the findings were deeply concerning. “Young people are being failed by systems that were supposed to protect them. Platforms need to be held to account for what their algorithms actually do, not just what their policies say.”

Why this matters now

The UK’s Online Safety Act, which received Royal Assent in 2023, places new legal duties on platforms to protect children from harmful content. Ofcom, the regulator responsible for enforcing the legislation, is still in the process of finalising codes of practice that platforms will need to follow.

That process could take time. Time that, researchers argue, teenagers don’t have.

Eating disorders have among the highest mortality rates of any mental health condition. Charities estimate that around 1.25 million people in the UK are living with one. Experts have long warned that algorithmic amplification of harmful content is making recovery harder and driving younger people toward dangerous behaviours in the first place.

What happens next

Campaigners are now calling on Ofcom to fast-track its enforcement guidance and on YouTube to conduct an independent audit of its recommendation systems for under-18 accounts. YouTube didn’t respond to a request for comment before publication.

Whether the platform acts before regulators force its hand remains to be seen.