YouTube still recommending eating disorder videos, researchers claim

The Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) set up a simulated account for a 13-year-old girl and found that one in ten videos recommended by YouTube's Up Next algorithm featured harmful content related to eating disorders, such as thinspiration or extreme calorie restriction. Although the situation has improved over the past two years, Google (which owns YouTube) said it had removed the flagged videos. The findings come after Ofcom criticized YouTube and TikTok for not doing enough to protect young people, and as the UK's Online Safety Act legally requires platforms to protect minors from such content, with fines of up to 10% of global revenue. Jazmin Kaur, 22, who was diagnosed with anorexia at age 13, testified that online content worsened her condition.