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For the next “Bias Busters” issue, we would like you to address obesity hate pages found on the popular social networking site Facebook.
In November 2011, an OAC member alerted the OAC National Office that they discovered more than 50 obesity hate pages located on Facebook. Upon learning of this, the OAC immediately sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg asking him to enforce Facebook’s Abuse Policy. Facebook has clear policies on hate speech. They state, “Facebook does not tolerate hate speech. While we encourage the discussion of ideas, institutions, events, and practices, it is a serious violation of our terms to single out individuals based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or disease.”
OAC Issues Letter to Facebook
To date, the OAC has NOT received a response from Facebook and many of the pages are still live. 
To your right, you will see a page, titled “Fat Kids are Harder to Kidnap.” To date, this page has more than 20,039 likes. Pages such as this one, greatly perpetuate weight bias and stigma. Additionally, in children, they also promote bullying and cyber-bullying.
Unfortunately, there are many hateful pages that exist on Facebook. Below, you will see just a sample of the pages:
Please note: The OAC is not in any way liable or responsible for the content on any of the below linked Facebook pages. The following links are provided as examples only.
- Helping the Community by Chasing Fat Kids in Your Car to Fight Obesity
- Kidnapping Fat People with Forklifts
- Fat, Single and Ready for a Pringle
As you can see, these pages perpetuate negative bias and stigma toward those affected by the disease of obesity and violates Facebook’s Abuse Policy.