WIN! Our action leads to takedown of online child exploitation material, new Instagram tools to help end sexploitation

We've been working hard to end sexploitation on Facebook-owned Instagram, and we've had a number of significant wins. Here are some highlights: 

Update November 8 : Win! Instagram acts on CEM pages

This week after we reported them to Facebook, Instagram removed another 36 child exploitation accounts. Again, these were accounts posting and even selling child exploitation material in plain sight. We reported more predators sexualising more underage girls, and more accounts which appeared to be used by child predators to network with other predators.

Over the past several months we’ve reported hundreds of similar accounts, and we continue to find and report more almost daily.

Update October 30: New Insta tool to block predators + 10 child exploitation accounts gone - double win!

Thanks to our joint international #WakeUpInstagram campaign, Instagram users in the US can now stop strangers from direct messaging them. The feature comes as a direct result of our campaign which highlighted the way predators use direct messaging to target, groom and abuse children. It’s expected to be rolled out globally.

The change is significant in light of a UK report earlier this year which showed that most child grooming occured on Facebook-owned platforms.

In another win, after we reported them yesterday, Instagram removed 10 child exploitation accounts. Several of the accounts - some with thousands of followers - featured images of prepubescent girls in swimwear, lingerie and sexualised poses and appeared to be used by predators to network. One account advertised the sale of child exploitation material.

Update October 6: Win!  Child exploitation accounts removed from OnlyFans and Instagram after our reports

You know we’ve found hundreds of child exploitation accounts on Instagram. Now we’ve found accounts selling pictures of pre-teen girls on adults-only, subscription-based content sharing platform OnlyFans. One girl was just 10 years old. 

At first OnlyFans told us this was a verified account and didn’t violate its terms of use. But after we sent screenshots of how it was promoted on Instagram, OnlyFans removed it. OnlyFans also removed a second similar account after we reported it.

When we reported the connected Instagram accounts, Facebook removed them.

Update September 17: Win! Our reports to Facebook lead to mass takedown of Instagram child exploitation content

From May to June, we reported over 500 Instagram accounts for child exploitation activity - including men masturbating in young girls' live posts and accounts posting and advertising sale of child exploitation material. After we sent a bulk report to our contacts at Facebook, 340 of the accounts/pieces of content were removed.

Update September 16: Win! Instagram adds in-app reporting tool to flag accounts that sexualise children

Instagram has responded directly to our #WakeUpInstagram campaign by adding a new in-app reporting tool to report accounts which sexualise children. The new tool for reporting entire accounts will help flag users which share and host content which exploits children, and expedite review and takedown of these accounts.

Read more.

Update June 12: Instagram accounts selling child exploitation material gone after our reports to eSafety

Finally - after action from eSafety - Instagram has deleted three accounts we reported for child exploitation. The accounts posted explicit imagery of young girls in lingerie and swimwear, with captions like 'Hot young teen booty'. One account promoted a 'lingerie contest' using an image of a 14 year old Australian model in a g-string bikini, advertised a link to the deepnude.to website and sold spots in a private chat group for access to 'uncensored content', referring to images of teens as 'jerk-off material'.

Update May 29: Win! Collective Shout action sparks multi-platform takedown of child exploitation material

Instagram, Patreon and Boosty have all deleted the user's accounts.

Learn more about our joint global #WakeUpInstagram campaign here.

See also

Win! Instagram adds in-app reporting tool to flag accounts that sexualise children

#WakeUpInstagram

Collective Shout supports Voluntary Principles to Counter Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse