DeepSummary
Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, a reporter at the New York Times, discovered scores of men following child influencers on Instagram and engaging in disturbing behavior, such as fantasizing about sexually abusing the young girls and leaving sexually charged comments. While the content on the girls' accounts is typically not overtly sexual, featuring them in dance outfits or fashion poses, it attracts child predators seeking to exploit the children.
Some parents run these accounts to potentially earn brand deals or college funds, often dismissing or downplaying the risks. However, the investigation found parents being blackmailed, threatened, and their children questioned after accusations of selling explicit photos, even when no such content existed. The issue raises questions about the role of platforms like Meta/Instagram in enabling this and protecting children.
Meta has responded by claiming parents can choose to leave the platform and that they work to root out predators. However, the investigation found Instagram's algorithm actively recommends this content to people interested in scantily clad children. With little action expected from policymakers, the onus appears to be on Meta to better moderate this harmful environment.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Parents are setting up Instagram accounts for their child influencers, often centered around activities like dance or gymnastics, seeking potential brand deals or financial opportunities.
- Many of these accounts, despite seemingly innocuous content, attract a disturbing number of male followers who are pedophiles sexualizing and exploiting the children.
- Platforms like Instagram enable this exploitation through algorithms that actively recommend explicit child content and features like paid subscriptions for child images.
- While some parents are oblivious or dismissive of the risks, others face threats, blackmail, and their children being questioned over false accusations of illegal content.
- Meta has been criticized for failing to effectively moderate this environment, with little expectations of policymakers taking substantive action.
- The investigation raises broader societal questions about the impacts of influencer culture and sexualization of young girls on social media.
- Law enforcement struggles to combat online child exploitation, leading some to caution against parents involving their children on these platforms altogether.
- Overall, the issue exposes the darkside of kid influencer culture and social media's failure to prioritize child safety over profits and growth.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “Alyssa did ultimately conclude that a lot of these guys were pedophiles.“ by Emily Peck
- “I think there are signs. Know, they've faced so much criticism for so many years over so many things, and they're kind of just done with, you know, I think there are people there who feel like no matter what they do, they'll get criticized if they start taking down a lot of accounts.“ by Jennifer Valentino-DeVries
- “One of the things that really surprised, like, I was thinking that, oh, all these parents must be making a ton of money, and that's why they're willing to put up with. But no, the majority of parents, all they're getting is maybe some free stuff or discounted stuff or just the opportunity to say some of these ambassador programs, you don't really even get much of anything.“ by Emily Peck
- “They were really pleased that the algorithm could tell that they were interested in scantily clad children, and that's what it served them over and over and over without a parent regard to what was being served.“ by Emily Peck
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Episode Information
What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future
Slate Podcasts
3/10/24
As the debate around child safety online rages on, an investigation by The New York Times found a seedy world of pedophiles interacting with child influencer accounts, often run by their parents, on Instagram.
Guest: Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, investigative reporter at the New York Times.
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