A Derry man who developed anorexia as a teenager says YouTube has long struggled to protect young people from harmful eating disorder content.
New research by the Center for Countering Digital Hate claims the platform is still recommending “thinspiration” videos and extreme calorie restriction content to teenage users, despite stricter online safety rules in the UK and EU.
Researchers repeated a 2024 investigation using simulated accounts of 13-year-old girls in the US, UK and Europe.
While they found YouTube had expanded its eating disorder safety measures, they say those protections are still applied inconsistently.
Content creator Conor Doherty says the issues with YouTube are nothing new:
Conor has undertaken fundraising efforts for the eating disorder charity Beat.
He says the organisation saved his life and gave him support at a dark time in his life.
Find out more here: https://www.justgiving.com/page/conor-doherty-1
