YouTube is still recommending videos related to eating disorders to teenagers a year after new rules were introduced to curb harmful online content, according to new research.
To compare YouTube’s video recommendations before and after the act came into force, the CCDH, a non-profit organisation that researches online harms, created a profile representing a 13-year-old girl in the UK.
Using this account, they viewed 10 potentially harmful videos about dieting and body image, mimicking the behaviour of a new user showing interest in that kind of content. They then analysed the next 100 videos suggested by YouTube’s ‘Up Next’ algorithm.
In 2026, one in ten of those recommendations were classified as harmful eating disorder content, an improvement on the one in four identified when the CCDH carried out the same experiment in 2024.
However, experts argue this is still one too many.
About the Author: Erin Dearlove
YouTube is still recommending videos related to eating disorders to teenagers a year after new rules were introduced to curb harmful online content, according to new research.
To compare YouTube’s video recommendations before and after the act came into force, the CCDH, a non-profit organisation that researches online harms, created a profile representing a 13-year-old girl in the UK.
Using this account, they viewed 10 potentially harmful videos about dieting and body image, mimicking the behaviour of a new user showing interest in that kind of content. They then analysed the next 100 videos suggested by YouTube’s ‘Up Next’ algorithm.
In 2026, one in ten of those recommendations were classified as harmful eating disorder content, an improvement on the one in four identified when the CCDH carried out the same experiment in 2024.
However, experts argue this is still one too many.
About the Author: Erin Dearlove
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