Social Media: Eating Disorders

(asked on 19th July 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with social media companies on content that may encourage the development of eating disorders; and what steps he is taking to remove content of that nature.


Answered by
Caroline Dinenage Portrait
Caroline Dinenage
This question was answered on 22nd July 2021

Ministers and officials have regular meetings with a wide range of stakeholders, including social media platforms, on a variety of issues, including eating disorders content. Details of Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the Gov.uk website.

Under the draft Online Safety Bill, services in scope will need to minimise and remove illegal content, including illegal online abuse. In addition, services which are “likely to be accessed” by children will be required to provide further protections for children from content and activity which is legal but harmful. Major platforms will also need to address legal but harmful content for adults. The government will set out priority categories of legal but harmful material in secondary legislation, for example content which encourages or promotes eating disorders.

Reticulating Splines