What happened when I spoke to the BBC about the Online Safety Bill...

TW: This post refers to eating disorders. If this is triggering for you, please stop right here.

I don’t often make a habit of talking openly about my struggles with an eating disorder. It feels too vulnerable. Too private. And who would want to listen anyway.

And, if I did, it would also involve having to be honest about the fact I still struggle. I’m not “over it”. It’s a part of me. It has been since I was a teenager. It seeps into every part of my being, usually when I least expect it.

But yesterday I had a call from the BBC asking what I thought about The Online Safety Bill, and how they plan to remove the requirement for big tech companies to remove “legal but harmful” content from their platforms.

Good question. What did I think about that?!

Turns out quite a lot.

I thought the rationale that it would stifle “free speech” was poppycock. Because we’re talking about content already flagged as harmful. Racist, misogynistic, homophobic content. That’s not free speech, that bigotry at the expense of people’s lives.

But we’re also talking about content that includes pro-self-harm, pro-anorexic (pro-ana) and pro-bulimic (pro-mia) topics too. Which for me is personally very triggering. You see eating disorders are a mental, emotional, and physical health issue. They’re not just about food.

Living with an eating disorder can make you constantly question your worth, and pro-ana/mia content gives you easy access to a community who understand this and can tap a mainline into your mental and emotional struggles. When what you really need to be presented with is pro-recovery content and access to trained medical professionals and therapists. Because once you’re in this spiral, believe me, it is HARD to get back out.

None of this pro-ana/mia content is about free speech, it’s about knowingly and unknowingly reinforcing poor mental health. Because some of this content is created maliciously by companies tapping into the “health” market with a vulnerable audience, but a lot of it is created by people who are themselves struggling with ED’s and need help.

I also thought the decision to make content moderation a personal responsibility was a disappointment too. Because we all know how the algorithm works, don’t we! We linger on something and our platforms decide we must like it, so it shows us more of the same. The tech companies engineered this on purpose, and then made it our problem to try and avoid it. So as much as I can block the content that will trigger me, if I do get caught in a spiral it’s a fast paced and slippery slope because the algorithm is right there with me – for the hours, days and weeks that follow! So surely there must be some responsibility on the part of the platforms too??

It turns out this was interesting to the BBC, and they asked me to have a chat live on BBC News instead. So that’s what I did!

So, this is me, sharing with you, that this is something I struggle with, and that more can be done to help people like me. If you’re struggling too, please do not get caught in your own spiral of darkness – there are pinned links to help in the comments. Speak to someone with the professional knowledge to help you, or a trusted friend or family member.

It is hard, but you are not alone.