Staff Reports
In a shocking revelation, The Wall Street Journal uncovered some seriously distressing stuff about Instagram, the social media giant owned by Meta. It turns out that Instagram is serving up some seriously inappropriate content alongside ads from big-name companies to users who follow the accounts of young people. Yikes!
The tests showed that following accounts of ‘young gymnasts, cheerleaders, and other teen and preteen influencers’ led to a bombardment of what The Wall Street Journal described as ‘jarring doses of salacious content.’ We’re talking children’s videos mixed with downright raunchy adult content, all while big companies’ ads are popping up in between. It’s like having a McDonald’s ad in a movie theater showing inappropriate content – totally inappropriate and just plain wrong!
Instagram Accused of Pushing Disturbing Content if Adult Users Follow Children https://t.co/XYDYL8qXYy pic.twitter.com/15M7l2yntu
— Home Defense Gun (@HomeDefenseGun) November 29, 2023
And it doesn’t stop there, folks. It seems that many young people on Instagram are being followed by adult men, leading to even more disturbing content being recommended by Instagram’s algorithm. This is absolutely sickening – we’re talking about young, impressionable kids being exposed to this garbage!
But wait, it gets even worse. According to the report, Instagram claimed that these tests weren’t a true reflection of what real users experience. But let’s be real, if these tests aren’t representative, then Meta needs to explain why they’re not being transparent about the reality of what’s happening on their platform.
And about those big companies whose ads were being shown alongside this inappropriate content? The reactions were all over the place. Match Group and Bumble canceled their ads, while Walmart and Pizza Hut either declined to comment or didn’t respond at all. Only Disney and Hims said they were making efforts to address the issue with Meta – come on, guys, let’s step it up and protect our kids!
The bottom line is, something seriously needs to change here. It’s great to hear that Meta is supposedly taking action to remove harmful content, but if thousands of videos are still slipping through the cracks each month, that’s not good enough. Our kids deserve better, and big companies need to take a stand and pull their advertising until Instagram cleans up its act.
Alright, time for some real talk. If you care about the safety of our kids and want to keep them from being exposed to this kind of trash, it’s time to make your voice heard. This is about protecting our children and holding big companies and social media platforms accountable. Let’s make sure our kids can browse Instagram without being bombarded with inappropriate content. It’s up to us to push for change and make it happen!
