“Large networks of accounts that appear to be used 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.
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“Instagram is currently the most important platform for these networks due to features such as content recommendation algorithms and direct messaging, which help connect buyers and sellers,” they added.
Furthermore, pedophiles and the aforementioned networks do not need to show much ingenuity to achieve their goals.
According to the WSJ, a simple search for explicit keywords on the topic leads to accounts that use these hashtags to offer content featuring sexual abuse of minors.
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Pseudonyms
Many of these profiles “claim to be operated by minors themselves and use openly sexual pseudonyms,” the article details.
The accounts do not directly say that they are selling such images, but they have menus with options, including, in some cases, to request specific sexual acts.
Stanford researchers also detected video offerings featuring zoophilia and self-harm.
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“At a certain price, children are available for in-person 'dates',” the text continues.
The report highlights the role played by the social network's algorithms: a test account created by the newspaper was “flooded with content that sexualizes children” after clicking on some of these recommendations.
Meta, Instagram's parent company, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from AFP.
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According to the WSJ, the social media giant acknowledged that it has difficulties with its security services and said that it had created a “working group” to address the problem.
In March, pension and investment funds filed a complaint against Meta for “turning a blind eye” to human trafficking and pedophilia on its platforms.
Instagram is also regularly accused by associations and authorities of not sufficiently protecting children against the risks of harassment, addiction and personal image problems.
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