The Online Safety Bill and Eating Disorders

You’ll have heard a lot about the Online Safety Bill, but what is it and why does it matter?

What is the Online Safety Bill?

The Online Safety Bill is a set of new regulations that aim to make the UK a safer place to be online.

The Bill seeks to introduce new rules for firms which host images, videos and comments generated by users, such as social media sites, message boards, forums, video sharing sites and search engines.

They will have legal duties to minimise harmful content presented to users. Platforms which fail to protect people could face fines or even be blocked.

• All platforms in scope will need to tackle and remove illegal material online.
• Platforms likely to be accessed by children will also have a duty to prevent children from accessing certain types of harmful and age-inappropriate content.
• The largest, highest-risk platforms will have to address content defined as harmful that can be accessed by adults, likely to include content encouraging self-harm or eating disorders. They will need to make clear in their terms and conditions what is and is not acceptable on their site, and enforce this.
• Services will have a duty to bring in user empowerment tools, giving adult users more control over the content they see and who they interact with.

What does it say about eating disorders?

Platforms ‘likely to be accessed by children’ will need to prevent their users from accessing eating disorder content.

The largest platforms will have to set out, in their terms and conditions, if pro-eating disorder content is allowed on their site. They will be required to provide tools that allow users to filter out pro-eating disorder content.

What are our thoughts?

The idea behind the Bill is positive, but we’re concerned about some of the specifics:

• Although the introduction of ‘user empowerment tools’ are a good first step, more needs to be done to ensure adults are protected from harmful, pro-eating disorder content.
• It is not yet clear how ‘eating disorder content’ will be defined. The Bill must ensure that all users, including children, are still able to access content from support services, like Beat, on online platforms.
• The Bill does not give enough attention to the algorithms that actively promote harmful content to the most vulnerable users.
• The Bill does not consider the impact of diet and fitness content and targeted online advertising on those with eating disorders. Although this content may not be explicitly malicious, or created with the intention of promoting eating disorders, we know that it can be damaging to those living with eating disorders, particularly when algorithmically targeted at people who are vulnerable to this content.

What have we done so far?

In 2022 we surveyed people with lived experience of eating disorders to understand more about their experiences online. The results were concerning: 91% of people with lived experience of having an eating disorder had encountered content which was harmful in the context of their eating disorder.

Those surveyed described being ‘bombarded’ with triggering content, imagery and advertisements which could ‘fuel’ eating disorder thoughts and behaviours.

We also heard from individuals who had found support, comfort and solidarity in online communities, but there were concerning reports of individuals being suggested harmful content after engaging with these positive online spaces, as a result of content-based algorithms.

Read the full survey summary

What are we doing right now?

We have written a briefing and shared with MPs and Lords. The briefing outlines our concerns, and presents the evidence we have collated on the impact the online world can have on those with eating disorders and their loved ones.

As the Bill moves through Parliament, we are working closely with MPs and Peers to ensure that our concerns are raised, and the experiences of those with eating disorders are considered.

What can you do?