YouTube Tightens Its Rules Regarding Eating Disorder Videos – SlashGear

With regard to age restrictions, YouTube says some videos will not be accessible to users under 18, signed-out viewers, or when embedded on other websites. This measure aims to strike a balance in protecting younger viewers who may be more susceptible to imitating the behaviors depicted in such videos. Creators may find their videos restricted even if their purpose is to share experiences related to their recovery.

Additionally, YouTube is expanding crisis resource panels to appear on Watch pages in countries like the U.S., U.K., India, Canada, Japan, Korea, Mexico, France, and Germany. These panels should appear similar to those you see under relevant videos during election season and the COVID-19 pandemic, which YouTube used to combat misinformation. Most recently, they’ve offered guidance to resources for Ukrainians impacted by the war. In this context, they’ll offer resources and information from global mental health support organizations such as NEDA in the U.S. and the Vandrevala Foundation in India. 

The rollout of these panels will occur gradually, and YouTube plans to extend their availability to more countries and languages in the future. YouTube’s recently partnered with NEDA to produce a year-long video series focusing on eating disorder information and is encouraging mental health professionals to apply for health product feature eligibility on their channels. You’ll start to see remnants of these changes today, so don’t be alarmed if your channel or some of the content you frequent is a little tougher to access.