Instagram ‘is out of control’ – doctors
THE number of vile eating disorder images bombarding young children on Instagram is spiralling out of control, top psychiatrists warned yesterday.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists in the UK issued the warning as research revealed that the Facebook-owned site is awash with vast troves of pictures encouraging young people to starve themselves.
It comes only weeks after the web giant was forced to remove content promoting self-harm following uproar over the death of 14-year-old British schoolgirl Molly Russell.
The leading medical body piled pressure on the company yesterday by calling for it to start donating a share of its profits to research links between social media use and mental health. Dr Jon Goldin, vice-chairman of the college’s child and adolescent faculty, called for a duty of care to be imposed on internet companies to protect children.
‘The number of posts is very worrying and large and it is becoming out of control,’ he said.
‘There is so much and social media companies are not paying any attention.’
Meanwhile, former anorexia sufferer JodieLeigh Neil said Instagram ‘fuelled’ her eating disorder. ‘The pictures on there were so graphic – just skin and bones really,’ she said.
She added: ‘Anorexia would make you believe you are bigger than that... and Instagram reinforced that with the comments of, “I feel so fat” all over those posts.’
Now a healthy weight, she and her mother Julie use Instagram to offer advice on dealing with eating disorders.