Pinterest bans ads related to weight loss

[McBell]

While Pinterest is often thought of as a feel-good corner of the internet, it used to have a problem with content that promoted potentially harmful eating and lifestyle habits, sometimes known as "thinspiration," "thinspo" or "pro-anorexia." Pinterest banned such content in 2012, but pro-eating disorder content has been found on the platform in the years since.

The company said Thursday that it previously barred some advertisements related to weight loss, including ads containing before-and-after weight loss images, weight loss pills or procedures, and "body shaming."

But its new policy is intended to go further by banning all ads with weight loss language and imagery, including testimonials regarding weight loss or weight loss products and references to Body Mass Index or similar indexes. Pinterest said it is the "only major platform" to prohibit such ads.

"We encourage others in the industry to do the same and acknowledge, once and for all, that there's no such thing as one-size-fits-all," the company said.

Ads promoting "healthy lifestyles" or fitness products and services will still be permitted on Pinterest, so long as they don't focus on weight loss, the company said. Pinterest developed the policy with guidance from the National Eating Disorders Association.
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Pinterest bans ads related to weight loss - CNN
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How much you wanna bet politicians don't whine and cry over this ban.....

Now if the politicians get their way, how, exactly, would this ban be handled?

Is Pinterest simply going to be required to allow it?
If so, is Pinterest going to be held liable for content they have no control over?

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Ads promoting "healthy lifestyles" or fitness products and services will still be permitted on Pinterest, so long as they don't focus on weight loss, the company said. Pinterest developed the policy with guidance from the National Eating Disorders Association.

That is great, because if you do the fitness and healthy lifestyle thing then the healthy weight thing very typically comes along with it. That fad crap shouldn't even be allowed in the first place.

 

[74x12]

While Pinterest is often thought of as a feel-good corner of the internet, it used to have a problem with content that promoted potentially harmful eating and lifestyle habits, sometimes known as "thinspiration," "thinspo" or "pro-anorexia." Pinterest banned such content in 2012, but pro-eating disorder content has been found on the platform in the years since.

The company said Thursday that it previously barred some advertisements related to weight loss, including ads containing before-and-after weight loss images, weight loss pills or procedures, and "body shaming."

But its new policy is intended to go further by banning all ads with weight loss language and imagery, including testimonials regarding weight loss or weight loss products and references to Body Mass Index or similar indexes. Pinterest said it is the "only major platform" to prohibit such ads.

"We encourage others in the industry to do the same and acknowledge, once and for all, that there's no such thing as one-size-fits-all," the company said.

Ads promoting "healthy lifestyles" or fitness products and services will still be permitted on Pinterest, so long as they don't focus on weight loss, the company said. Pinterest developed the policy with guidance from the National Eating Disorders Association.
​

Pinterest bans ads related to weight loss - CNN​

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How much you wanna bet politicians don't whine and cry over this ban.....

Now if the politicians get their way, how, exactly, would this ban be handled?

Is Pinterest simply going to be required to allow it?
If so, is Pinterest going to be held liable for content they have no control over?

It seems like projection to me because you're saying politicians "whine and cry" over the ban when anyone can understand that this ban was caused by people whining and crying in the first place. Banning things is the solution for some people who just can't handle any criticism or disagreement.

 

[McBell]

It seems like projection to me because you're saying politicians "whine and cry" over the ban when anyone can understand that this ban was caused by people whining and crying in the first place. Banning things is the solution for some people who just can't handle any criticism or disagreement.

WTF you going on about?
Politicians are STILL whining and crying over Trumps long overdue ban.
Hells bells, the only reason we have not had to listen to Trumps excessive whining and crying over it is because, well, he got himself banned....

How much whining and crying are they gonna do over this ban?
Guess we will see how many politicians are involved in the fad diet market, won't we...

 

[Shadow Wolf]

It seems like projection to me because you're saying politicians "whine and cry" over the ban when anyone can understand that this ban was caused by people whining and crying in the first place. Banning things is the solution for some people who just can't handle any criticism or disagreement.

It's more of a health issue and concern, and that the pressure, focus, and emphasis on weight loss does do more damage than good (rather, lots of damage hardly any good at all). Being overweight isn't healthy, but pills, fad diets, surgeries, these things are all just as unhealthy because unhealthy habits do not change. And it completely ignores that being skinny is not necessarily healthy. It puts an unrealistic and unhealthy emphasis on BMI (it's actually not even good at doing what it's intended to do). And it enriches and enhances the lives of snake oil salesmen, while people have their desperation and insecurities and ignorance are preyed upon and exploited.
Truly, it is banning unhealthy and potentially dangerous substances and practices.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Hells bells, the only reason we have not had to listen to Trumps excessive whining and crying over it is because, well, he got himself banned....

That's the day the world was blessed with a reduction in the noise being generated. Not truly really that much of a reduction, but one less loud mouthed bozo generating news due to being a loud mouthed bozo is still appreciable.

 

[74x12]

WTF you going on about?
Politicians are STILL whining and crying over Trumps long overdue ban.
Hells bells, the only reason we have not had to listen to Trumps excessive whining and crying over it is because, well, he got himself banned....

How much whining and crying are they gonna do over this ban?
Guess we will see how many politicians are involved in the fad diet market, won't we...

Just agree with everything the political establishment tells us we should agree with or else we should be silent and stop whining. Got it.

 

[74x12]

It's more of a health issue and concern, and that the pressure, focus, and emphasis on weight loss does do more damage than good (rather, lots of damage hardly any good at all). Being overweight isn't healthy, but pills, fad diets, surgeries, these things are all just as unhealthy because unhealthy habits do not change. And it completely ignores that being skinny is not necessarily healthy. It puts an unrealistic and unhealthy emphasis on BMI (it's actually not even good at doing what it's intended to do). And it enriches and enhances the lives of snake oil salesmen, while people have their desperation and insecurities and ignorance are preyed upon and exploited.
Truly, it is banning unhealthy and potentially dangerous substances and practices.

Information should be available online without people deciding what is harmful or not; except for themselves.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Information should be available online without people deciding what is harmful or not; except for themselves.

There's been plenty of research done.
And if people got to decide what is harmful or not, smoking would never kill anyone and fatty junk food wouldn't put a pound on anyone or raise cholesterol.
This diet crap is predatory and dangerous, and it has dire, severe, and sometimes fatal consequences. The most common problem is people don't keep the weight off after ceasing whatever weight lose program, pill, procedure, or procedure has ended. That's because they didn't make changes to start living a healthy lifestyle. And even if they keep the weight off, not all calories and foods are equally processed in the body. We focus on weight so much that it's not unusual for someone to think not being overweight is necessarily healthy. Depending on lifestyle and diet, this person could be less healthy than someone with some extra pounds.
And that's before we get to things like self esteem, confidence, comfortable with ones body, and having a positive self image. That widely gets wrecked in the pursuit of weight loss.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

It seems like projection to me because you're saying politicians "whine and cry" over the ban when anyone can understand that this ban was caused by people whining and crying in the first place. Banning things is the solution for some people who just can't handle any criticism or disagreement.

And, by the way, Pinterest is a private company. They get to do stuff like this because it has been gradually and increasingly decided that many rights just don't apply when you're dealing with a private company.
Especially and particularly when you agree to the terms of usage that let them be able to do stuff like this.
Bringing in politicians is beyond knee jerky.

 

[74x12]

There's been plenty of research done.
And if people got to decide what is harmful or not, smoking would never kill anyone and fatty junk food wouldn't put a pound on anyone or raise cholesterol.
This diet crap is predatory and dangerous, and it has dire, severe, and sometimes fatal consequences. The most common problem is people don't keep the weight off after ceasing whatever weight lose program, pill, procedure, or procedure has ended. That's because they didn't make changes to start living a healthy lifestyle. And even if they keep the weight off, not all calories and foods are equally processed in the body. We focus on weight so much that it's not unusual for someone to think not being overweight is necessarily healthy. Depending on lifestyle and diet, this person could be less healthy than someone with some extra pounds.
And that's before we get to things like self esteem, confidence, comfortable with ones body, and having a positive self image. That widely gets wrecked in the pursuit of weight loss.

It sounded like a blanket ban to me. There could be health centered weight loss programs as well. I don't think it's just targeting unhealthy programs. It's really healthy to lose weight if you're obese and I think some programs can benefit people's lives. Besides it's overprotective to decide what people can and can't talk about.

And, by the way, Pinterest is a private company. They get to do stuff like this because it has been gradually and increasingly decided that many rights just don't apply when you're dealing with a private company.
Especially and particularly when you agree to the terms of usage that let them be able to do stuff like this.
Bringing in politicians is beyond knee jerky.

I know it's a private company. But we should no longer ignore how big tech (social media giants in particular) are in bed with establishment government in the USA and are even blatant bootlickers of various political regimes around the world. They do it for the bottom line I'm sure; but it's still getting to the point that it cannot be ignored. If it is ignored it will eventually spell the end of free and open society. People should understand they are not only controlling the information you receive on social media; but are also working very hard behind scenes to push certain information on you and they even focus on molding the very thoughts/opinions that we like to think are so original.

And it was the OP that brought up politicians. I for once feel like defending politicians because I think they aren't whiners this time.

What I believe social media should be about is giving the little people a chance to say or advertise what they want without interference or control. Because before the internet we had nothing like that. We had corporate news and media and that was it.

Unfortunately there is indeed an ugly side to allowing just anyone at all to have a -potentially- major voice in the world. This ugly and often ignorant side is apparently hard for many people to tolerate; so they ask for more and more restrictions. I believe that's incorrect.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

It sounded like a blanket ban to me. There could be health centered weight loss programs as well. I don't think it's just targeting unhealthy programs. It's really healthy to lose weight if you're obese and I think some programs can benefit people's lives. Besides it's overprotective to decide what people can and can't talk about.

Putting the emphasis on weight loss doesn't work. Everywhere we look we find failure after failure after failure. Programs have failed. Diets have fails. Pills and supplements and juices have failed. Surgeries have failed. And that is because they emphasis and end goal of losing weight rather than making changes to adopt a healthy lifestyle. The program and diet ends, the pills run out, the body recovers from surgery, the weight often comes back because old habits return.
And if you're obese and lose weight by cutting calories, and all you end up is eating one big mac a day, you'll probably lose weight. You'll still be unhealthy.

I know it's a private company. But we should no longer ignore how big tech (social media giants in particular) are in bed with establishment government in the USA and are even blatant bootlickers of various political regimes around the world. They do it for the bottom line I'm sure; but it's still getting to the point that it cannot be ignored. If it is ignored it will eventually spell the end of free and open society. People should understand they are not only controlling the information you receive on social media; but are also working very hard behind scenes to push certain information on you and they even focus on molding the very thoughts/opinions that we like to think are so original.

And it was the OP that brought up politicians. I for once feel like defending politicians because I think they aren't whiners this time.

What I believe social media should be about is giving the little people a chance to say or advertise what they want without interference or control. Because before the internet we had nothing like that. We had corporate news and media and that was it.

Unfortunately there is indeed an ugly side to allowing just anyone at all to have a -potentially- major voice in the world. This ugly and often ignorant side is apparently hard for many people to tolerate; so they ask for more and more restrictions. I believe that's incorrect.

People shouldn't be able to promote dangerous stuff. This is why we don't allow alcohol or tobacco advertisements in many places. It does real harm that we can measure.
People aren't entitled to not abide by the rules they agreed to abide by. You agree to the rules, you agree to the rules, and you can either be an aresling about it when they are enforced or you can accept what comes because you violated the rules.

 

[McBell]

Just agree with everything the political establishment tells us we should agree with or else we should be silent and stop whining. Got it.

If that is all the better your intellect will allow you to understand, then by all means run with it.

 

[74x12]

If that is all the better your intellect will allow you to understand, then by all means run with it.

That is just the kind of arrogance I would expect from someone who held your views. Thank you for confirming it.

 

[Twilight Hue]

While Pinterest is often thought of as a feel-good corner of the internet, it used to have a problem with content that promoted potentially harmful eating and lifestyle habits, sometimes known as "thinspiration," "thinspo" or "pro-anorexia." Pinterest banned such content in 2012, but pro-eating disorder content has been found on the platform in the years since.

The company said Thursday that it previously barred some advertisements related to weight loss, including ads containing before-and-after weight loss images, weight loss pills or procedures, and "body shaming."

But its new policy is intended to go further by banning all ads with weight loss language and imagery, including testimonials regarding weight loss or weight loss products and references to Body Mass Index or similar indexes. Pinterest said it is the "only major platform" to prohibit such ads.

"We encourage others in the industry to do the same and acknowledge, once and for all, that there's no such thing as one-size-fits-all," the company said.

Ads promoting "healthy lifestyles" or fitness products and services will still be permitted on Pinterest, so long as they don't focus on weight loss, the company said. Pinterest developed the policy with guidance from the National Eating Disorders Association.
​

Pinterest bans ads related to weight loss - CNN​

----------------------------------------------------​

How much you wanna bet politicians don't whine and cry over this ban.....

Now if the politicians get their way, how, exactly, would this ban be handled?

Is Pinterest simply going to be required to allow it?
If so, is Pinterest going to be held liable for content they have no control over?

I kind of wish censorship would go away.

I understand the need for controlled content, but on the other hand, I think people ought to be responsible for their own well being rather than depend on somebody else to do it for them.

I don't think third person moral dependency or being a brother's keeper is really all that healthy.

You develop properly by being exposed to things, not being insulated from them.

 

[McBell]

I kind of wish censorship would go away.

I understand the need for controlled content, but on the other hand, I think people ought to be responsible for their own well being rather than depend on somebody else to do it for them.

I don't think third person moral dependency or being a brother's keeper is really all that healthy.

You develop properly by being exposed to things, not being insulated from them.

I agree.

I also agree that a social media platform should be allowed to run their platform how they see fit.
Which means if you post content the platform does not want on their platform, the platform should be allowed to censor it.

AND I do not whine and complain when a platform enforces the platforms own rules.

 

[McBell]

That is just the kind of arrogance I would expect from someone who held your views. Thank you for confirming it.

If that is all the better your intellect will allow you to understand, then by all means run with it.