Petition to take down Pro Anorexia Website

[BemusedMother]

these websites do so much damage
There is a petition to take it down but it needs 10,000 and better still 100,000 to really be taken seriously.
Any UK resident or UK citizen living overseas can sign it
So in the interests of all those who suffer directly or indirectly from eating disorder, please can as many of you sign it and share it with friends.

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/116648


At 10,000 signatures, government will respond to this petition

At 100,000 signatures, this petition will be considered for debate in Parliament

[BemusedMother]

Trojan - I think France has the better approach.

[BemusedMother]

I'd like that as well Happy.
Not as an alternative.

[TrojanWhore]

The French law is not aimed at the Internet, it is a law against the glorification of anorexia in any form of media.

Now, if you were petitioning for a parallel law to the French one, that would be quite a different matter.

But the French law has not reduced the access of people in France to anorexia sites. Because those sites simply move.

[thedevilinmyshoes]

you want to make it illegal for people to talk about a mental illness that they may or may not want to seek recovery from? why?

[Pipistrella]

Sorry OP but the petition itself is written very badly and as such doesn't make sense. Websites themselves don't make people vulnerable to eating disorders. Many other elements are factors in the nascence of an ED but the sites are a result and not a cause.

It's true that there may be promotion of certain behaviours on there but tbh, that's not going to apply to a lot of people anyway - many who have AN are pretty smart and know what works for them and what doesn't.

I had it myself, before I had a computer or knew anything about websites. The thought of communing with others 'like myself' did nothing for me. I wouldn't have used those sites. It was all, I suppose, about me.

Plus there was no deceit in my behaviours, I knew I was too thin, was too scared to eat, and I didn't need to lie to anyone.

Perhaps I had a different sort of anorexia. I don't know. But I think freedom of speech is very important and I don't quite understand how removing these sites is likely to stop anyone being anorexic.

Whether you survive or not is a bit more complex than what someone on a website tells you to do.

[thedevilinmyshoes]

you can read far far worse on mainstream slimming sites, including right here on mumsnet

[OddSocksHighHeels]

The problem is who do you criminalise? The person setting up the website? They're likely to have an ED themselves.

I'm recovering from AN, never used pro-ana websites as they sickened me even when I was massively unwell myself, I can't really explain why!

I'm going to read up on the France legislation as I can't remember it exactly now so I'm not sure how I feel about that.

[enderwoman]

OP- I think that in an ideal world we could get damaging websites banned but in practical terms, the UK government can not do anything as it only has jurisdiction over sites hosted in the UK. If pro ISIS people use Twitter then how can sites be stopped without going down the route of China. I haven't suffered or know anyone who has suffered anorexia but would it make people feel better for the UK government to say that pro an a sites can't be hosted in the UK?

It is common sense that People who are/have suffered from conditions like anorexia, drug abuse, domestic violence etc benefit from talking to each other online. I don't know how you can encourage this sort of site but discourage pro ana as the line is so thin.

[Branleuse]

I used to use one of those sites. It didnt make me worse, but it was amazing to have somewhere to go where I could talk about it with no pressure to pretend I wanted to get better (I didnt want to)

I was so gutted when it got taken down.

I wont be signing your petition to remove support networks from girls who are already feel like noone understands them

[WaitrosePigeon]

I won't be signing.

[OddSocksHighHeels]

A quick google of the French laws - no, I wouldn't support something similar. There are many people with healthy BMI's that have ED's, including AN, and many people that can be below a healthy BMI for entirely different reasons.

It also places too much emphasis on AN being about weight when it's a complex MH issue.

[thedevilinmyshoes]

are you going to ban 'health at every size' fat acceptance type sites too, anyone championing a bmi over 24 or just people with a bmi below 17? So no fat models, no overly thin ones? I think I could get my head around a campaign that was about consistently promoting healthy weights

[LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726]

I think it's a misguided petition. It isn't going to achieve what you say you want, OP, which is high-level discussion. Unless you've ever had disordered eating or understand what anorexia nervosa is, it's best left alone. All this petition will probably achieve is that pro ana sites moving around, re-setting themselves up or going underground entirely and the net result will be that the people who need to access these sites, will not be able to find them.

I won't be signing this petition.

[BemusedMother]

DancingQueen - thank you. And good luck for a sustained recovery.

Israel has taken a similar stance to France.

Spain already bars models below a certain BMI from taking part in Madrid fashion shows.

Italy demands health certificates for those on the catwalk.

And in the UK?

Nothing will work in isolation but all are small steps.

And yes - to an earlier question - while it is not my petition and I do not know the petitioner -I do have personal experience of anorexia. A friend died from it and a close relative has it. And is likely worse due to ideas from websites.

So I will support any positive small steps.

I am not naive enough to think the petition will solve anything but I do hope it will encourage more positive action.

[thedevilinmyshoes]

would you support a ban on overweight models, require health certificates etc?

[BemusedMother]

Also do please
At 10,000 the Government will "repsond" and at 100,000 they will "debate"

• not enact.
  
• just discuss

[BemusedMother]

Missing word
It should be please note

[BemusedMother]

Not aware of any clinically obese models that young girls wish to emulate in the UK, Devil, are you?

[thedevilinmyshoes]

I'm not aware of young girls admiring models much at all these days, I was simply wondering how consistent this stance on websites and other material promoting 'healthy' weights would be.

[BemusedMother]

Sadly Devil, I have had various models held up as examples of why my relative is not too thin .....

[OddSocksHighHeels]

ED's are not caused by seeing underweight people. They really aren't.

I would have used images of people who weighed less than me to say "see, I'm not that bad" but I never wanted to look like them and they didn't cause my AN in any way. It was a tactic to get people off my back but I wasn't fooling myself. I never used pics of models (I don't think any are smaller than I was at my worst) but pics that the media liked to show - look how disgusting this sick person looks! Yeah, helpful.

[BemusedMother]

And while I do share concerns about any debate that could refer to criminalising someone whose illness could lead then to post on Pro-Ana site or similar

But

if this petition gets enough signatures it will lead to a much needed intelligent, informed debate, not a quick, daft decision.

And that is why I signed.

[IonaMumsnet]

Hi folks. We're going to move this over to our Petitions topic in just a moment.

[yuckie]

This petition is not unsuccessful. It is over 4k in the month it was started and will easily reach 10k by June deadline. What it needs is 100k so that the issue can be proposed for debate. It is about not allowing major internet platforms host these hideous sites and much more too. It's about making a start to change things. Many on here will enjoy the debate and tooing and froing in the detail. You would not do this if it was your child. If you are not convinced then try it and see what, with one click, your daughters are exposed to. Want to lose a few lbs for your holiday? Click and you will be bombarded with dangerous lethal practices and ways to ensure that you, as mothers , are thoroughly fooled. These sites are out of hand. They should be dealt with as stringently as any other site that promotes abuse of young people. Anorexia is the most lethal of all mental illness killing many young people each and every year. For parents, fighting for their child's lives, it is harrowing , hearthbreaking and , the resesrch has shown , more stressful than parenting a schizophrenic person (and my heart goes out to those parents too. The government does little or nothing and at any one time there can be quite simply no beds available for a dying child anywhere in the Uk. Teenagers get sicker in their own homes while waiting for an inpatient bed, with frantic parents desperately seeking help. Your child is 5 and a half stone ? Sorry but there is someone else whose child is 5 stone and slightly more likely to have cardiac failure so x child had to wait.

So sign this petition or ignore it as you will. It is about highlighting an illness to this government, and the lack of funding for any semblance of timely treatment. It's easier for some to pick holes in someone's brave efforts and to debate it on here but whoever started this petition is actually doing something to try and get the issue debated where it should be, in parliament.