Instagram introduces new feature that lets users hide weight loss ads from their feeds

By Alma Fabiani

Published Aug 15, 2022 at 01:55 PM

Reading time: 1 minute

34825

On 6 June 2022, Instagram updated its ‘Sensitive Content Control’ feature. Included in some of the changes introduced by the social media giant is the possibility for users to filter out weight loss-related ads on their feeds—a move that many had demanded from the platform ever since members of the Kardashian family had been caught promoting weight loss products.

This update comes as an addition to the feature that Instagram introduced in the summer of 2021 which allows users to filter content on more than just their explore page. “In addition to Explore, you will now be able to control the amount of sensitive content and accounts you see in Search, Reels, Accounts You Might Follow, Hashtag Pages and In-Feed Recommendations,” the company wrote in a recent statement.

The “body weight control” topic is the latest to be included on the list of subjects that can be filtered out of users’ daily feeds. Other social media apps have made similar decisions in recent years. For example, in September 2020, TikTok banned fasting app ads and restricted advertisers from promoting “negative body image.”

While some netizens have declared this move to be a result of a petition created by body-neutral influencer, Katie Budenberg, it’s unclear if Instagram was only following TikTok’s lead.

In 2021, Budenberg launched a Change.org petition encouraging Instagram to include an option for filtering weight loss ads in its Sensitive Content Control feature. In the page’s description, she wrote, “To some, these ads may be harmless and they can scroll on but for some these ads are triggering and dangerous.”

The petition ended up receiving over 30,000 signatures, and less than a year later, Instagram updated its feature. In a post on the platform, Budenberg shared a graphic informing her followers of the change and listed steps for them to take to filter out weight loss content on their feeds.

“I don’t know if it was us, I don’t know if Instagram just came to their senses, but most importantly—WE CAN NOW ASK TO NOT SEE WEIGHT LOSS ADS,” she wrote in her post’s caption.

If this is a change that you’d like to implement on your Instagram account, here are the steps you can take:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Katie Budenberg (@katie_budenberg)

Keep On Reading

By J'Nae Phillips

Cyber nostalgia: How Gen Z-coded Y3K fashion is going to shape the future

By Abby Amoakuh

Is Dune a space opera or a political warning we can’t afford to ignore?

By Charlie Sawyer

Who is shaman and conspiracy theorist Durek Verrett, Princess Märtha Louise of Norway’s new husband?

By Charlie Sawyer

Is Lana Del Rey dating alligator tour guide Jeremy Dufrene to prep for her upcoming country album?

By Fleurine Tideman

Is the very demure, very mindful TikTok trend rife with misogyny or just silly, goofy fun?

By Abby Amoakuh

Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie to star in Emerald Fennell’s white-washed Wuthering Heights

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Brooklyn Beckham sparks internet frenzy as he teases new career move

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Texas’ largest pro-life group is recruiting men to sue partners over abortions

By Abby Amoakuh

Iraq legalises child marriage following proposal to lower age of consent to nine

By Charlie Sawyer

Did the Daily Mail shut down the TikTok parody account History Mail?

By Abby Amoakuh

This year’s Golden Globe’s gift bag is worth $1 million, including a wine tasting and weekend getaway

By Abby Amoakuh

How mukbang YouTuber Nikocado Avocado tricked the world with hidden 2-year weight loss transformation

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

White-owned UK restaurant chain faces TikTok backlash after trademarking Vietnamese word pho

By Abby Amoakuh

Sweden’s plans for an underage social media ban to curb gang violence could inspire EU to do the same

By Charlie Sawyer

Drake’s recent hairstyle has fans thinking he’s going through a midlife crisis 

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Argentina’s President Javier Milei cloned his late dog, but where’s the fifth one he claims to have?

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Gordon Ramsay gives Dua Lipa stern warning after trying her viral Diet Coke pickle juice cocktail

By Abby Amoakuh

Why Gen Z are cancelling Call Her Daddy following Amy Schumer’s controversial appearance

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Study reveals alarming suicide rates among female doctors linked to misogyny and harassment

By Abby Amoakuh

Jenna Ortega speaks out as TikTok trend sees fans deface dolls of her Netflix character Wednesday