Brussels demands immediate action from Meta so that Instagram stops promoting pedophile networks | technology



The European Commission is calling on Meta to take measures to stop pedophile networks on Instagram. This Thursday, the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, asked Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to “act immediately” to protect minors on the platform, after joint investigation between The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and the Universities of Stanford, Massachusetts Amherst will prove that the application promotes the connection of pedophile networks. According to the researchers, the Instagram algorithm helps connect and promote a vast network of accounts dedicated to purchasing sexual content from minors.

Britton said His official Twitter account That “Voluntary Meta Code for Child Protection doesn’t seem to be working. Right now, Mark Zuckerberg has to explain himself and act immediately.” On June 23, the commissioner will meet with Meta Number One at the company’s headquarters in California, US, as a result of the implementation of the EU’s Digital Services Act.

The Digital Services Directive (DSA), the official name of the standard, sets out obligations for transparency and access to the algorithms of large digital platforms. Among other things, it forces them to quickly remove illegal content and be transparent about the design of their algorithms, which determine what users see on the Internet and social networks.

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The regulation also proposes fundamental rights protections (restrictions on data use based on race or religion) or fines that, in the case of the tech giants, could be as high as 6% of their global income if they fail to comply with the requirements. “From August 25, under the Digital Services Act, Meta will have to show that it is taking action or face severe penalties,” the European Commissioner said.

The researchers found that Instagram – which has more than 1.3 billion users – easily allowed people to look for signs of child sexual abuse. On some occasions, even emojis that link them to accounts have used the terms to advertise the sale of child sex items or even encounters with minors. US Media explains: “Instagram connects pedophiles and directs them to content sellers through recommendation systems, which stand out among links that share interests.”

Meta recognized the issues within its compliance processes and responded to Wall Street Journal Which in the past two years has removed 27 pedophile networks from Instagram. In addition, it stated that it had established an internal working group to address these issues.

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