Pinterest to ban all weight loss adverts from platform
Pinterest will ban all ads with weight loss language and imagery, including ads that idealise or criticise certain body types.
The digital pinboard site said it would also not allow ads with testimonials about weight loss or weight loss products, or ads referencing Body Mass Index (BMI) or similar indexes.
“This stance makes Pinterest the only major platform to prohibit all weight loss ads. It’s an expansion of our ad policies that have long prohibited body shaming and dangerous weight loss products or claims,” the company said in a blog post on Thursday.
Ads promoting healthy lifestyles, habits or fitness services and products are still allowed on the platform if they do not “focus on weight loss.” The company said it had developed the policy with guidance from the National Eating Disorders Association.
Pinterest’s head of policy, Sarah Bromma, said in an interview that the rule change prioritizsd Pinterest users’ “emotional and mental health and wellbeing, especially those directly impacted by eating disorders or diet culture or body shaming.”
Pinterest, which has long grappled with combating pro-eating disorder content on its site and has since 2015 blocked such searches and directed users to expert organizations, already has rules against ads promoting weight loss pills or those containing before-and-after weight-loss imagery.