Pro-Ana and Pro-Mia sites.

Freedom of speech or not, that law is to help GUIDE us to make GOOD decisions, not bad ones. Besides, not everyone on the internet os American, so that bit is out the window. That is simply horrible that those websites exist amd I believe they should be banned.

Thank goodness I didn't care for the internet seven years ago, when I had anorexia.

no.future:

I think they should be allowed.

And everyone is responsible for their OWN actions, if you decide to starve yourself, then that's your fault, your problem, just like a gun company can't be sued if someone buys a gun from them and shoots someone else. So if a girl went onto a pro ana/mia website then died from starvation it is NOT the girl who created that website's fault nor should she be sued. The girl all on her own decided to go on that website and do those things NO ONE forced her. NO ONE held a gun to her head and MADE her go onto those websites and do what they suggested....

Suing pro ana/mia websites is not the answer. You can't go around suing everyone for the choices you make on YOUR OWN.

While I don't really think suing pro-ana/mia websites is the answer either, I think there is still a legal point to be considered, and I have to disagree with a lot of what you said.

An eating disorder is actually a psychological disorder. Its various forms have been defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, that's recognized by the American Psychiatric Association. So really, how much of these "choices" can actually be defined as free will by their participants? For me, it's less of a choice and more of a compulsion. How I view myself is so warped and distorted that I've been in and out of therapy for about 3 years, and I know my issues well, but I still struggle with the urges of my ED every single day.

That being said, I think that pro-ana/mia sites are a similar issue to that of assisted suicide. While trying to find the laws that govern assisted suicide on the internet, I found this article from a few years ago about a man who prompted others to commit suicide in a chat room, and was found guilty due to these chats being construed as "lethal advocacy". And in all honesty, I feel like that's what pro-ana/mia sites are - lethal advocacy. Because they're designed to trigger/encourage the flourishing of a mental disorder than can inevitably hospitalize or kill a person with those tendencies, and I think that it's much the same as encouraging a depressed person to commit suicide.

Guns can be used as protection, and can be used to hunt food if absolutely necessary. Certainly, they're primarily used to harm, but there are aspects to a gun that can be used for good, much the same as a kitchen or a Swiss army knife. A maker of any of these potentially lethal objects can hide behind these excuses and say that their intentions were wholesome, but others took their ideas and warped them into something. With a pro-ana/mia site, there isn't one of these excuses - it is only there to perpetuate these mentally damaging ideas.

Personally, I'm not really sure what should be done about the sites, but to be perfectly honest I hate them so much and I wish they could just be banned. On a more logical side, though...maybe it could be considered something similar to the assisted suicide laws that certain states have? I think that would be the most helpful (and would cover not only pro-ana/mia sites, but also real life situations as well).

(and of course I don't mean ED support sites, but rather pro-ana/mia sites that glorify and encourage the disorder, and there's a distinct difference between the two.)

@ consulting detective
I agree with all of this. It's a lethal advocacy, mixed with glorification and mob mentality.

I have friends who have gotten sucked into Tumblr pro-ana sites and have made extremely unhealthy and dangerous decisions because of them. I think it is has a lot to do with reinforcement. These sites build a community of people who bond through sharing the same disorder, so the members are rewarded by the group for their behavior, making a person feel accepted when they tell stories about how many times they puke a day or reblog "thinspiration" pictures of very skinny women measuring their waists. If they were to go against the mob mentality, they might not necessarily be accepted by the group anymore, which is uncomfortable- human nature has developed in such a way where we need social communities in order to feel secure.

It's easy to see that without a range of opinions and interests on these bulimia/anorexia-centric blogs, it's hard to detach yourself from the mindset that they glorify. And I also think that whether or not it's protected by freedom of speech, it encourages people to celebrate their unhealthy choices, and provides lots of triggering material to heighten somebody's disorder.

And yet, I don't think anything realistically could be done to stop it. It's also a form of personal expression, whether or not it has a bad effect on the public. I think what can be done is regulation by the actual websites, looking to distinguish which blogs are encouraging bad behavior and triggering psychological disorders, and which ones are personal accounts and expressions of a disorder they're living with. The two can get indistinguishable at times, which is what I think makes it so difficult.

Back in the 90s and early 00s, they used to have to hide the sites within the search keys of 'duct tape' because they were getting blocked by website hosts and search engines under the correct search terms.

I actually just heard about these forums. Right now. From this thread.

all I'm saying is its sickening. Anorexia is not something you want to... Approve of or brag about. Just no.

the sad part is, there really isn't a solution to it, either. After all, what are we going to do? Censor it?