French law criminalizes ‘pro-anorexia’ sites
p2pnet news | Politics:- People running “pro-anorexia” websites and publications encouraging girls and young women to starve themselves could soon find themselves in jail and/or heavily fined.
“Giving young girls advice about how to lie to their doctors, telling them what kinds of food are easiest to vomit, encouraging them to torture themselves whenever they take any kind of food is not part of liberty of expression,” Reuters has health minister Roselyne Bachelot saying.
“The messages sent out here are messages of death,” she said during a parliamentary debate on a proposed law against incitement to anorexia.
In Britain, public outrage forced the owners of Bimbo (right), a frightening ‘game’ aimed at girls as young as nine, to take down the ‘diet pill’ segment.
“They compete against other players to earn ‘bimbo’ dollars so they can dress her in sexy outfits and take her clubbing,” the Guardian explained.
“They are given missions, including securing plastic surgery at the game’s clinic to give their dolls bigger breasts, and they have to keep her at her target weight with diet pills. Although it is free to play, when the contestants run out of virtual cash they have to send text messages costing £1.50 (almost $3) each or use PayPal to top up their accounts.”
Bimbo is also available in France where the new anti-anorexia law, aimed mainly at ‘pro-ana’ blogs and sites where anorexics, “share experiences and tips on subjects like appetite suppressants,” would, “impose penalties of two years plus a fine of 30,000 euros ($47,450) for ‘incitement to excessive thinness by publicising of any kind’,” says Reuters, adding:
“The penalties would rise to three years in jail plus 45,000 euros fine in cases where a death was caused by anorexia.”
The bill was adopted by the lower house of parliament on Tuesday and must go before the Senate before it becomes law.
Reuters – France to crack down on “pro-anorexia” websites, April 15, 2008
public outrage – Sick girl’s site Bimbo offline, April 1, 2008
Bimbo – Evans-Jacquart ‘Boob Jobs’ Bimbo, April 2, 2008
Guardian – Internet Miss Bimbo game for girls attacked by parents, March 25, 2008
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April 15th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
and how about a law against eating to much/to unhealthy?!
put some managers of some “well known and respected” rec (ehm sorry) fast food francise chains, the Kings and the Big Ms into jail!
Their stuff is unhealty too; adipositas (sp?) heart deseases, colesterol values beyond good or evil and so on.
Moral of the story the gov should either act equaly like a good big brother does, or stay out of the business of the peoples lives and how they choose to live it!
April 15th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
This is absurd on every level.
It is the individual parents responsibility to teach their kids right from wrong, and police the child’s activities whether online or otherwise.
It is not the responsibility of website owners to provide reasonable “child friendly” content. As wrong as I think this Bimbo game is, quite simply, my children will not be playing it. Because it’s my responsibility, not theirs.
This wreaks of parents that “pass the buck” on child rearing, expecting everyone else in the world to raise their kids in a fashion acceptable to the parents, instead of doing the job themselves.
Pitiful…
April 15th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
And how is this not part of liberty of expression?
April 16th, 2008 at 1:56 am
So, stray mongrel, you’re fine with every evil influence on your kids? Most are not.
BTW we are NOT free to say anything we like. we CAN but there will be consequences and rightly so. Perhaps you feel you have the right to verbally abuse the Muslim community for example, but if you expect to get away with it; forget it.
In one country you will be jailed for denying the Holocaust. In many countries you are jailed for objecting to military service or for teaching your beliefs.
Anorexia is a debilitating disease and it’s like having a site devoted to suicide or mass murder. Should it be acceptable because there’s no Internet police? You’ll find there are in fact.
Why would any woman want to look like a 10 year old girl? What happens is that they end up looking like shrivelled up old ladies. During pubescence many girls mistakenly believe that they’re getting fat due to their figure filling out normally. Anorexic behaviour is to be discouraged, as should any unhealthy habits.
April 16th, 2008 at 3:12 am
There’s a double standard when it comes to weight. Women get upset about media that encourages girls to be too thin (and rightly so), but they also encourage girls to be happy, even if they’re grossly obese. “Big is beautiful!”, “I’m not fat, I’m just big-boned.”, “I have a gland problem.” They even have a code word for fat; BBW which supposely stands for Big, Beautiful Woman. The Urban Dictionary on the net gives the alternate definition of Baby Beluga Whale. While having a positive self image is a good thing, it’s neither attractive nor healthy to have a double chin and rolls of fat around your waist.
Note: I’m not talking about girls/women who are slightly over-weight or even “chubby” or “plump”, I’m talking the ones who can’t fit into a normal sized movie seat or who visibly tilt a car when they get in.
November 10th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Gotta say that I’m flabbergasted by it all.
On the one hand I do find those kinds of websites scary and sad, but on the other I also agree that we have to be responsible for what our children are looking at.
It’s difficult because your average north american woman is a size twelve, so compared to models and celebrities she looks plus size. There are so many conflicting ideas and images here that it spins your head. Yes it’s not good to be anorexic or bulimic, but equally it is not good to be obese. So if your idea of being a BBW means that you are not a skinny emmaciated model type, then good for you, but if you’re grossly overweight then to say you are a BBW suggests another kind of problem.
Personally I think it is a wonder that more women and girls are not more screwed up than some of us are – too many differing opinions about thin and thick, fit or fat – I suggest ignore all the media and visit your doctor for the truth.