Instagram Connects Vast Pedophile Network

Meta’s Instagram is not only hosting child sexual abuse material, but its algorithm is promoting it.

The Wall Street Journal and researchers at Stanford University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst have uncovered that Instagram is facilitating paedophiles by connecting users and guiding them to content sellers through recommendation systems.

Professor Levine, one of the researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, questioned Meta’s inactivity, stating: 

“Pull the emergency brake… Are the economic benefits worth the harms to these children?”

The Journal and researchers have shared their findings with Meta, prompting the company to conduct an internal sweep of the identified accounts. However, some of the identified child sexual abuse material sellers continue to be active on Instagram, and upon viewing their accounts, the recommender system continued to promote pedophilic content.