America
Insta's algorithm offers child-sexualising reels to followers of teen influencers: Report

San Francisco, Nov 28
Instagram's algorithm, which shows reels as per the users' interest, has offered sexually explicit content, including provocative footage of children as well as overtly sexual adult videos and advertisements for some of the biggest American brands, according to an experiment conducted by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
WSJ conducted the experiment to see what Instagram's Reels algorithm would recommend to test accounts set up to follow exclusively "young gymnasts, cheerleaders, and other teen and preteen influencers active on the platform".
Furthermore, these salacious ads were also mixed in with ads for well-known US brands, including Walt Disney, Walmart, Pizza Hut, Bumble, Match Group, and even WSJ.
The report added that the Canadian Centre for Child Protection achieved similar results with its own tests separately.
While Walmart and Pizza Hut declined to comment, Bumble, Match Group, Hims, and Disney have either pulled their ads from Meta or pressed the firm to address the issue.
The company "would never intentionally advertise adjacent to inappropriate content", and that the company is suspending its ads across Meta’s platforms, Robbie McKay, a spokesman for Bumble, was quoted as saying.
According to Charlie Cain, Disney's vice president of brand management, the company has imposed rigorous boundaries on what social media content is appropriate for advertising and has pressured Meta and other platforms to strengthen brand-safety features, the report mentioned.
In response, Meta informed its clients that it was investigating and that it "would pay for brand-safety auditing services to determine how often a company’s ads appear beside content it considers unacceptable."
However, the company did not provide a schedule or specifics for future prevention. Recently, several companies have halted their ads on X after Elon Musk endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory.
According to the internal documents seen by The New York Times, X could lose as much as $75 million in advertising revenue by the end of the year as dozens of major brands pull out their marketing campaigns.
More than 200 ad units of companies from the likes of Airbnb, Amazon, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, and others have halted or are considering pausing their ads on X, according to the report.

8 hours ago
American prelate Robert Prevost elected New Pope

10 hours ago
Pakistan’s aerial attack foiled by Indian air defence amid blackouts and sirens, retaliatory measures launched

13 hours ago
As situation 'continues to evolve', US Consulate in Lahore directs all personnel to 'shelter in place'

13 hours ago
India negates Pak drone/missile attack on over 15 places, knocks out Lahore air defence system

13 hours ago
Former Bangladeshi Prez Abdul Hamid leaves country

13 hours ago
India's strikes at cross-border terror infrastructure 'targetted and measured', EAM Jaishankar tells Iranian FM Araghchi

13 hours ago
‘Only Allah can save us now’: Pakistani MP breaks down in Parliament after Operation Sindoor

13 hours ago
Any attempt at further escalation will be responded appropriately, India warns Pakistan

13 hours ago
The Green Alert

15 hours ago
US Congressman Krishnamoorthi calls for unity against terrorism, prevention of further escalation between India-Pak

15 hours ago
Trump says 145pc tariffs on China are here to stay for now

15 hours ago
Trump nominates Casey Means as Surgeon General of US

15 hours ago
US asks its citizens to leave Lahore or seek shelter after India strikes Pak's radar systems