Meta Finds Vulnerable Teens See More Eating‑Disorder Content

A narrative review (Ferrari, 2015) used a thematic synthesis and structured searches across PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar covering January 2010–June 2025 and said heterogeneity in studies made quantitative pooling inappropriate. Meta's internal research, surveying 1,149 teens during the 2023–24 academic year, found the 223 teens who often felt bad about their bodies after using Instagram were shown about three times more “eating disorder–adjacent” content (10.5% vs. 3.3%) than other teens. Those vulnerable teens also encountered more provocative or mature material (27% of their feed versus 13.6% for peers), including imagery described as explicit or sensitive that did not violate Instagram rules. Meta and its researchers emphasized the study does not establish causation and acknowledged teens may seek out such content, but warned Instagram can expose vulnerable users to “high doses” of risky material. Meta says the findings inform product changes, including more restrictive default settings for teen accounts (PG‑13–style guidance), though critics argue these measures and current content filters remain insufficient.