Toxic algorithms wouldn't let them go - now Australia wants an off switch

Varsha Yajman was already self-conscious about the way she looked when she joined social media as a 13-year-old.

Endless workout videos making impossible promises filled her feeds. Through the screen, girls she'd never met urged her to sign up to dangerous calorie challenges. Others proudly promoted their height and weight - even the number of times they had been sent to hospital - on their profiles in a form of twisted competition.

Every night as she fell asleep, Varsha would watch a stranger on the internet diarising what they'd consumed that day.

"I was like, 'I don't need to eat. I can just watch other people eat'," Varsha tells the BBC.

"I would find that I'd be down these really deep rabbit holes... it was like no matter how hard you tried to get out, you couldn't."

Now 24 and in recovery from anorexia, Varsha says she is still served weight loss content on social media - despite having every safety setting turned on, and an exhaustive list of banned words.

Source: BBC News Technology RSS (Open Press / Full Text)