Instagram is the main platform used by pedophile rings to promote and sell content depicting child sexual abuse, according to a report by Stanford University and the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
“Large networks of accounts that appear to be run by minors openly advertise child sexual abuse material for sale”, researchers from the Center for Cyber Policy at the prestigious Silicon Valley university said on Wednesday.
“Instagram is currently the most important platform for these networks due to features like content recommendation algorithms and direct messaging, which help connect buyers and sellers.they added.
And neither pedophiles nor these networks need to show much ingenuity.
According to the WSJ, a simple search for explicit keywords on the subject leads to accounts using these tags to advertise child sexual abuse content.
Many of these profilesthey claim to be managed by the children themselves and use overtly sexual pseudonyms”, details the article.
The accounts don’t directly say they’re selling these images, but they do have menus with options, including, in some cases, requesting specific sexual acts.
Stanford researchers also detected offers of videos featuring bestiality and self-harm.
“At a certain price, children are available for in-person ‘meetings’”, the article continues.
The report highlights the role played by the algorithms of the popular social network: a test account created by the newspaper was “inundated with content that sexualizes children” after clicking on some of those recommendations.
Meta, the parent company of Instagram, did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.
According to the WSJ, the social networking giant acknowledged having difficulties with its security services and said it had created a “workgroup” to address the issue.
In March, pension and investment funds filed a complaint against Meta for having “turned a blind eye” in the face of human trafficking and pedophilia on their platforms.
Instagram is also regularly accused by associations and authorities of not sufficiently protecting children against the risks of bullying, addiction and personal image problems.
Source: AFP
Source: Gestion
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