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BiasCritical

Instagram Algorithms Allegedly Promote Accounts Facilitating Child Sex Abuse Content

Occurred
Jun 7, 2023
Published
Jun 7, 2023
Source
AI Incident Database

Summary

An investigation disclosed that Instagram's recommendation algorithms are promoting accounts that facilitate and sell child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The study, conducted by The Wall Street Journal and researchers at Stanford University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, indicates that Instagram's algorithms not only allow for the discovery of such accounts through keyword searches but also actively recommend them to users within the network. The issue is especially concerning given Instagram's popularity among teenagers.

Developers

  • Meta
  • Instagram

Deployers

  • Meta
  • Instagram

Harmed parties

  • General public
  • Minors
  • Adolescents

Tags

  • child exploitation
  • algorithmic bias
  • social media
  • content moderation

Classification

Category confidence: 85%
Severity confidence: 95%

Rationale: Algorithm promotes CSAM, causing severe harm to minors, though TRANSPARENCY or PRIVACY could also apply.

Classifier: Qwen/Qwen3.5-35B-A3B-FP8

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