European teens could see a change in YouTube’s recommendations, as the video platform announced it would would stop directing them to certain types of health and fitness videosespecially those who “idealize” certain body types.
YouTube, which is one of the most popular social media apps among teens, recommends videos similar to those the user has already watched.
This means that users can fall into feedback loops, watching many similar videos in a row and sometimes delving into more extreme content.
YouTube first implemented these restrictions in the United States last year, and is now expanding them to Europe and the rest of the world, on the advice of its Youth and Family Advisory Board.
The new rule aims to prevent teens from forming “negative beliefs about themselves,” Dr. Garth Graham, head of YouTube Health, and James Beser, director of product management for YouTube Youth, said in a statement.
What does this mean and what type of content will now be restricted?
What videos will YouTube restrict for teens?
YouTube has said it will now limit repeated recommendations of videos that
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idealize particular fitness levels or weight groups
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compare and idealize certain physical characteristics
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are socially aggressive, meaning they exhibit bullying or fighting.
These types of content “may be harmless as a single video, but can be problematic for some teens if viewed repeatedly,” Graham and Beser said.
How does social media affect body image?
Social media can lead to poor body image, eating disorders and mental health problems, according to a comprehensive analysis of 50 studies from 17 countries published last year.
Indeed, Internet users tend to compare themselves to people they see online, internalize a standard of thinness or fatness as the ideal body type, and self-objectify.
This does not mean that everyone is affected in the same way.
Women and girls, people who are overweight, and those who already have poor body image tend to be more affected by social media, while people who feel good about their bodies and are social media savvy are less affected — a dynamic the researchers call a “self-reinforcing cycle of risk.”
At the same time, a 2021 study found that fitness YouTubers — dubbed the “Fitspiration” community — encourage unhealthy behaviors, and viewers reinforce those practices in the comments.
What other measures has YouTube taken?
YouTube already restricts teens’ access to some content involving eating disorders and physical fighting.
Under the new policy, YouTube may also direct users to helplines when searching for topics related to suicide, self-harm and eating disorders.
The company also said it worked with organizations in Germany and France to develop the update.
What are regulatory authorities doing about this problem?
YouTube and other social media sites have been criticized for their effects on youth mental health and wellbeingand some governments have threatened to crack down.
In the UK, for example, communications regulator Ofcom in May ordered tech companies to take steps to prevent their algorithms from “recommending content that is harmful to children,” including content about self-harm and eating disorders.
The European Union’s Digital Services Act, passed in 2022, also requires tech giants to limit children’s access to content that could harm their “health and physical, mental or moral development.”
