Instagram 'most important platform' for child sex abuse networks: Report

In a statement, a Meta spokesperson said the company had set up an internal task force to deal with the claims, adding "We’re continuously exploring ways to actively defend against this behaviour, and we set up an internal task force to investigate these claims and immediately address them."

Claims in the SIO report

The SIO report published on Wednesday said that Instagram's recommendation algorithms are a key reason for the social media platform's effectiveness in advertising SG-CSAM.

"The creation and trading of Child Sexual Abuse Material, or CSAM, is often regarded as the most harmful of the widespread abuses of online communication and social media platforms," the report said. The SIO identified 405 accounts advertising the sale SG-CSAM on Instagram, as well as 128 seller accounts on Twitter.

Fifty-eight accounts within the Instagram follower network appeared to be probable content buyers who used their real names, many of which were matched to Facebook, LinkedIn or TikTok profiles using social links and profile picture similarity transforms.

"While it is likely that some seller accounts (on different social media platforms) may be impostors redistributing content, scammers, or a third party coercing the child, it appears that by and large underage sellers are producing and marketing content of their own accord," the report added.

What is SG-CSAM?

SG-CSAM is a type of content when an image or video appears to be created by the minor subject in the image. While SG-CSAM is often still illegal to possess "and distribute in the United States, the fact that children (often teenagers) are sharing these images amongst each other voluntarily has reduced the focus on this vector of CSAM creation," the SIO said in its Wednesday report.

Such type of content can sometimes be initially distributed voluntarily (such as to a romantic partner) but then redistributed or posted publicly leading to uncontrolled redistribution of images.

This issue can overlap with Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery (NCII, sometimes referred to as “revenge porn”), in which sexual images are distributed without the consent of the subject, the report said.

The SIO also pointed out that in recent years, the creation and distribution of SG-CSAM increasingly became a commercial venture.

The observatory had acted on a tip from The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), which in a report mentioned Instagram's SG-CSAM issues along with the SIO's findings. The WSJ report on Tuesday said that Instagram connects paedophiles and guides them to content sellers via recommendation systems that excel at linking those who share niche interests.

It added that Instagram enabled people to search explicit hashtags such as "#pedowhore and #preteensex" and connected them to accounts that used the terms to advertise child-sex material for sale.

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