REVEALED: Shocking extent of social media content on vulnerable people

Doctors in Northern Ireland are calling for more restrictions on online content targeting vulnerable people with severe health issues.

Shocking social media material can encourage behaviour linked to eating disorders and self-harm on vulnerable patients.

The warning comes as the British Medical Association held its annual conference in Belfast this week.

Senior doctor Sara Hedderwick proposed a motion to note the "harmful effects that unfettered access to social media can have for patients with eating disorders” and to support the “regulation of social media content harmful to health."

The motion was passed by conference delegates.

Dr Hedderwick referenced the case of 14-year-old Molly Russell who took her own life in 2017.

Molly’s family later discovered she had searched for self-harm techniques via social media prompting widespread criticism of certain platforms.

'It is unbelievably easy to find content linked to anorexic techniques.'

"Social media can be a force for good, but it has the ability to enable harm to occur to the most vulnerable in society.

"We need to support measures that make access to this sort of content much harder."

A 2017 study from Macquarie University and the University of New South Wales researched the relationship between time spent on Instagram and body image.

After interviewing 350 Australian and American women, it found that ‘more frequently viewing ‘fitspiration’ images on Instagram was associated with greater body image concerns among young women’.

If you are struggling with an eating disorder, help and support can be accessed here

If you suffer from mental health issues help can be found here

NSPCC guidelines for child safety online can also be accessed by parents here