Members in the Media
From: NBC News

Posts Encouraging Eating Disorders Were Recommended to X Users

Communities that promote eating disorders have been thriving on X, with some users saying the platform has recommended content to them that glorifies or encourages starving, self-harm and being underweight.

“For someone who is at risk of an eating disorder, maybe engaging in low-level behaviors, this kind of content really validates that ‘Hey, there are other people doing this,’” said Gemma Sharp, a clinical psychologist, associate professor and the head of body image and eating disorders research at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

“Eating disorders are very competitive disorders. That’s why you see people quoting numbers a lot, goal weights a lot, they want to be the sickest in the community,” Sharp said. “It is a very toxic environment.”

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