Facebook-owned social media platform Instagram recently announced that posts promoting weight loss products and cosmetic procedures will soon be hidden from users under 18.
CBS News reports that Facebook-owned photo-sharing app Instagram has announced plans to hide content that promotes certain weight loss products and cosmetic procedures from users under the age of 18. Other posts on the platform related to weight loss will reportedly be removed entirely. Instagram’s public policy manager, Emma Collins, commented on the reasoning behind this stating:
We want Instagram to be a positive place for everyone that uses it and this policy is part of our ongoing work to reduce the pressure that people can sometimes feel as a result of social media.
Instagram stated that the new policies are a direct result of the increase in influencer marketing and promotion of diet teas, supplements, and cosmetic surgeries. Influencer such as the Kardashians have promoted diet teas, shakes, and waist trainers on their pages for some time:
Instagram stated that posts that have “an incentive to buy or includes a price” will be restricted to users under 18 while content that “makes a miraculous claim about certain diet or weight loss products, and is linked to a commercial offer such as a discount code” could be removed completely. Instagram will also be releasing new ways for users to report those that break the new rules and guidelines.
Actress Jameela Jamil, stated that the new policies were a “huge win or our ongoing fight against the diet/detox industry.” Jamil added: “Facebook and Instagram taking a stand to protect the physical and mental health of people online, sends an important message out to the world. As someone who struggled with an eating disorder for most of my youth, I’ve personally known and suffered the perils of the devious side of the diet/detox industry.”
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com