Instagram Bans Healthy Eating Ads for Promoting 'Negative Self-Perception' | Hacker News Reader

Instagram Bans Healthy Eating Ads for Promoting 'Negative Self-Perception'

reason.com

22 pointsfortran7710 comments

Stephanie Chan, a spokesperson for Instagram parent company Meta, said the ads were pulled because the company doesn't allow "content that promotes misleading health claims" or attempts "to generate negative self-perception in order to promote health-related products. We remove ads that break these rules."

Arguably, public service ads which depict the negative consequences of drinking and smoking are "generating negative self-perception" in their intended audience. In fact, that is precisely the point.

That said - the distinction here coming in using "negative self-perception" to promote products (as opposed to advising them to seek help from a professional - who can actually advise them as to whether these products are in fact helpful or worth the money).

So that's why I don't think the (implicit) "wrongthink" analogy applies, and no, this isn't the slippery slope to a full-blown totalitarian apparatus (as is the undercurrent of most Reason articles).

Also because it’s easier to just drop the whole category than try to play the game of “well is this ad actually trying to promote healthy eating or is it just diet thinspo.” Especially when that category is so tainted that not much value will be lost.

Yeah but the products would result in objectively more healthy eating by the customers.

This is really a matter of "feelings" vs "health", decided only in the end by what instagram thinks makes them more money

"a distinction arises in using ..."

> They note a link between ADHD and obesity. And they suggest that getting ADHD treatment through Cerebral could help people to "stop overeating."

I hadn't heard of this connection before between ADHD and obesity. But there have been some studies on it[1].

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6826981/

Did they link to the ads in question? I wonder what they contain.

On the other hand, looking at older issues of magazines, and seeing the smoking ads in them… yeah, I don’t miss those in the slightest.

You're comparing "smoking" to not being fat?

I’m comparing ads for cigarettes, with ads for medicine or other health products.

direct to consumer drug advertising is only legal in two countries in the world. Perhaps FB is ideologically on the side of the other 200. That said they should apply the rules consistently if it's the case.

USA and New Zealand?

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