Instagram Promotes Disturbing Network of Pedophiles, Researchers Find

Instagram’s algorithms have long been accused of being broken, but new research has highlighted the disturbing consequences of hyper-targeted content. The Wall Street Journal and university researchers found the Meta-owned platform hosts underage-sex content and builds a network of pedophiles with similar interests in illegal content, suggesting them to sellers of child-sex material. Researchers set up test accounts that viewed only one account in the network and watched as Instagram began to recommend child-sex content sellers and buyers, and bombard the accounts with exploitative material. Using hashtags relating to underage sex, researchers discovered 405 sellers of so-called “self-generated” illicit material, or otherwise accounts purportedly run by kids as young as 12. Of those seller accounts, 112 had 22,000 followers in total. Many of the accounts selling illicit material post “menus” of content, and Instagram also hosts hashtags like #pedowhore and #preteensex. Meta acknowledged its errors in content management, denounced child exploitation as a “horrific crime,” and said it has removed 27 pedophilic networks in two years.