INSTAGRAM Is most Popular Online Platforms for Pedofiles
According to a report published by Stanford University and the Wall Street Journal, the most popular platform that pedophile networks use to promote and sell content demonstrating the sexual abuse of children is Instagram.
According to the findings of researchers working at the Cyber Policy Center of a university in the United States, “large networks of accounts that appear to be operated by minors are openly advertising self-generated child sexual abuse material for sale.”
“At the moment, the most important platform for these networks is Instagram. Its functions, such as recommendation algorithms and direct messaging, assist in connecting buyers and sellers.”
According to the Journal, conducting a straightforward search for sexually explicit keywords that refer specifically to children will lead the user to accounts that use these terms to advertise content that depicts the sexual abuse of minors.
According to the information provided in the article, the profiles frequently “claim to be driven by the children themselves and use overtly sexual pseudonyms.”
Although it does not explicitly state that they sell these images, the accounts do feature menus with a variety of options, some of which include particular sex acts.
Researchers from Stanford also discovered advertisements for videos featuring bestiality and self-harm.
The article went on to say that “for a certain price,” children can be made available for in-person “meetings.”
A comment from Meta, the company that owns Instagram, was requested by our correspondent; however, Meta did not immediately respond to the request.
According to the Journal, the social media giant admitted that there were issues within its security services and stated that it had established a task force in order to address the concerns that were brought up.
Pension and investment funds lodged a complaint against Meta in March of this year, accusing the company of having “turned a blind eye” to images of child sex abuse and human trafficking that were posted on its platforms.
