New report shows YouTube still recommends eating disorder content to children despite safety improvements

LONDON, 14th July 2026 — The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) today launched Up Next: Anorexia Algorithm, a new report finding that YouTube continues to recommend harmful eating disorder content to children despite significant improvements since the implementation of online safety regulation.

Repeating its 2024 investigation, CCDH tested YouTube’s recommendation system using simulated 13-year-old girl accounts in the United States, United Kingdom and European Union. The research found that harmful eating disorder recommendations fell from one in three recommendations in 2024 to one in nine in 2026.

This new research test the safety changes made by YouTube since the introduction of the UK’s Online Safety Act, the EU’s Digital Services Act, and YouTube’s subsequent safety measures.

While the findings suggest that regulatory pressure and platform interventions may be improving platform safety, YouTube continued recommending harmful eating disorder content, including thinspiration videos, extreme calorie restriction content and subliminal weight-loss videos, to simulated child users across every jurisdiction tested.

Researchers also found that YouTube has expanded its eating disorder safety features since CCDH’s previous investigation, including making crisis resource panels available for more eating disorder-related searches. However, these interventions remain inconsistently applied. None of the 34 harmful eating disorder recommendations identified during testing displayed a crisis resource panel, despite promoting harmful eating disorder content. Instead, crisis panels appeared on five non-harmful eating disorder recommendations, and where warning or pause pages were shown, children could dismiss them with a single click to access the content.

Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, said: “The work of regulators can often feel slow and opaque, but our latest findings suggest that when regulations are enforced, it can tangibly protect users. Harmful eating disorder recommendations have fallen significantly on YouTube, showing the platform is capable of making its recommendation systems safer. But progress is not the same as success. YouTube is still recommending content that glorifies starvation and eating disorders to children. One harmful recommendation reaching a vulnerable child is one too many.”

The Eating Disorders Coalition Board President, Dr. Peat said: “This report shows regulation works when enforced — but nearly one in ten simulated child accounts were still shown harmful eating disorder content,” said Christine Peat, PhD, President, Board of Directors, Eating Disorders Coalition for Research, Policy & Action. “Crisis resources that don’t appear on the content most likely to harm a child aren’t a safety net; they’re a gap. Platforms must design recommendation systems that prevent this content from surfacing at all, not rely on warnings a child can dismiss with one click. Regulators must keep the pressure on.” 

The findings come as governments continue to strengthen child online safety protections. A year after the Online Safety Act’s child safety duties came into force, the UK Government has announced plans to introduce a social media ban for under-16s.

If the improvements identified by CCDH are linked to stronger regulatory pressure, age restrictions should complement continued enforcement of safety-by-design obligations. Harmful eating disorder content remains available on YouTube and continues to be recommended by its algorithms, highlighting the need for platforms to prevent harmful content from being recommended in the first place.