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SALT LAKE CITY — The Wall Street Journal wanted to see what Instagram’s Reels video service would provide users interested in children, so it set up test accounts that followed young gymnasts, cheerleaders and teen and preteen influencers on the platform.
The result, per the Journal?
“Instagram’s system served jarring doses of salacious content to those test accounts, including risqué footage of children as well as overtly sexual adult videos — and ads for some of the biggest U.S. brands.”
The Wall Street Journal saw that a large segment of followers on the popular accounts were adult men and that many of the accounts ”who followed those children also had demonstrated interest in sex content related to both children and adults.” Following those follower accounts led to “more-disturbing content” and ads.
Per the Journal, The Canadian Center for Child Protection ran its own tests and had similar results.
“Meta said the Journal’s tests produced a manufactured experience that doesn’t represent what billions of users see,” the Journal article said. ”The company declined to comment on why the algorithms compiled streams of separate videos showing children, sex and advertisements, but a spokesman said that in October it introduced new brand safety tools that give advertisers greater control over where their ads appear, and that Instagram either removes or reduces the prominence of four million videos suspected of violating its standards each month.”
Several companies said they would suspend their ads rather than have them placed adjacent to inappropriate content, the article added.
Sexual content online has different degrees of impact. For instance, the sharing of sexual content can have long-term traumatic effects. In an Instagram post, Operation Light Shine noted that the center’s own unrelated survey found more than two-thirds of sex abuse survivors say the dissemination of their images online has a profound impact. ”Unlike the hands-on abuse, the repercussions of this online distribution are unrelenting, leaving indelible marks on their lives,” the post said.
Salt Lake City
Disagree with the research! Instagram Reels are just a platform. It’s up to the users, especially parents and teenagers, to use it responsibly. Good parenting is key, not blaming technology.