WSJ: Instagram Algorithm Connects Young Female “Influencers” with Predatory Men

This story is incredibly disturbing, but what I find more unsettling is the mother's response: “You have to accept it.”

A Midwestern mom started an Instagram account for her preteen daughter to share dance photos, but it quickly attracted adult male followers. What began as a pandemic pastime quickly spiraled into a sinister world where innocence and exploitation blur together.

“It wasn’t like I was trying to push her to be a star, but part of me thought it was inevitable, that it could happen someday,” the mom confessed. “She just has that personality.”

The mom tried to shield her daughter from the most explicit comments and messages, but the sheer volume of male attention was inescapable as 92% of the account’s followers were adult men.

“If you want to be an influencer and work with brands and get paid, you have to work with the algorithm, and it all works with how many people like and engage with your post,” the mom explained. “You have to accept it.”

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This story is incredibly disturbing, but what I find more unsettling is the mother’s response: “You have to accept it.” No parent should ever have to accept that their child’s safety and well-being are the necessary sacrifices for pursuing a dream, especially when that dream is manufactured and perpetuated by a platform that profits from the attention of predators.

The discovery that her daughter’s photos were being traded and fetishized on encrypted messaging apps like Telegram was a devastating blow. Despite her efforts to curate content and enforce boundaries, the mom was at the mercy of Meta’s opaque policies and inconsistent enforcement, leaving the young influencer’s hard work and dreams in limbo.

A mother who truly prioritizes her child's well-being would immediately remove her daughter from Instagram in this situation. It's deeply concerning that this mother is "struggling" with a decision that should be clear-cut: protect her child from the dangerous exposure to pedophiles across the globe, or continue pursuing the misguided and unhealthy goal of becoming a modern-day "influencer."

Instagram possesses both the capability and the authority to put the safety and well-being of its youngest users first. However, the platform chooses not to do so, as prioritizing child safety does not generate the same level of revenue as the current approach.

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