A joint Wall St. Journal (WSJ) and academics at Stanford University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst found that Instagram’s algorithms are making it easier for pedophiles to access online pedophile content.
Instagram, owned by Meta Platforms, is a social media platform that is popular especially with young adults for its ease of use and photo sharing capabilities.
According to one media report, “Accounts found by the researchers are advertised using blatant and explicit hashtags like #pedowhore, #preteensex, and #pedobait. They offer “menus” of content for users to buy or commission, including videos and imagery of self-harm and bestiality. When researchers set up a test account and viewed content shared by these networks, they were immediately recommended more accounts to follow. As the WSJ reports: ‘Following just a handful of these recommendations was enough to flood a test account with content that sexualizes children.’”
The joint investigation also found issues with Instagram’s content moderation, often ignoring reports of child sexual abuse material. According to the WSJ article, “Instagram accounts offering to sell illicit sex material generally don’t publish it openly, instead posting “menus” of content. Certain accounts invite buyers to commission specific acts. Some menus include prices for videos of children harming themselves and “imagery of the minor performing sexual acts with animals,” researchers at the Stanford Internet Observatory found. At the right price, children are available for in-person “meet ups.” The promotion of underage-sex content violates rules established by Meta as well as federal law.”
As an advocate for survivors of sexual abuse and a trial attorney that has witnessed first-hand the devastation such predatory behavior can have on children, this investigation must lead to action on the part of Meta Platforms as the owner of Instagram. The social media company has a fiduciary duty to society to protect children and not assist pedophiles in harming children.
