YouTube Recommends 1 in 10 Harmful Eating Disorder Videos to Teens Despite 2025 Safety Law
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 13
YouTube Recommends 1 in 10 Harmful Eating Disorder Videos to Teens Despite 2025 Safety Law
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 13
Summary
A simulated UK account for a 13-year-old girl was served harmful eating-disorder material in 10 of YouTube’s next 100 recommendations, CCDH said, a year after tougher child-safety duties took effect.
The group said the Up Next feed still surfaced thinspiration, extreme calorie restriction and other dangerous content, and none of the harmful videos it identified triggered YouTube’s crisis-panel warnings.
CCDH’s 2026 result improved from 1 in 4 harmful recommendations in the same test in 2024, with similar findings from teen profiles in the US and EU.
Google said the flagged videos have been removed for violating YouTube rules, which ban content encouraging eating disorders while allowing recovery stories and expert-led support videos.
The findings add pressure under Britain’s Online Safety Act, which requires platforms to assess algorithmic risks to under-18s and carries fines of up to 10% of global revenue.
One year after new safety laws, why do YouTube's algorithms still push eating disorder content to teens?
Will the UK's proposed social media ban for teens actually protect them, or just create new online dangers?
Harmful Eating Disorder Content Still Reaches Teens on YouTube Despite Safety Efforts, CCDH Finds in 2026
Overview
Despite ongoing efforts to improve online safety, harmful eating disorder content remains accessible to teenagers on platforms like YouTube. The platform’s algorithms not only allow this content but also actively recommend it, highlighting a major gap in current safety measures. While Google claims its policies prohibit such content and support recovery stories, and YouTube has removed some flagged videos and collaborates with mental health experts, these steps have not fully addressed the problem. The situation underscores the urgent need for social media companies to adopt stronger safety-by-design approaches to prevent the recommendation and spread of harmful material to young users.