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Instagram ad targeting draws concerns over child safety

The New York Times has highlighted how inadvertently vulnerable we can make children and young people by putting them in advertisements on social media.

A children’s jewellery maker posted ads on Instagram featuring photos of a young girl wearing a sparkly charm to users interested in parenting, children, ballet, and other topics identified by Meta as appealing mostly to women.

But when the seller got the results of her ad campaign, she found the ads had gone almost entirely to adult men.

Test ads run by The New York Times using the same photos with no text not only replicated the sellers experience, but drew the attention of convicted sex offenders and other men whose accounts indicated an inappropriate interest in children.

The results suggest that algorithms play an important role in directing men to photos of children, echoing concerns about the prevalence of men who use Instagram to follow and contact minors. 

Read the article.

For more information on how to protect children from online sexual abuse, visit nevertoolate.org.au

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acknowledgement of country and abuse victims
The On Us: Australian Business Coalition for Safeguarding Children acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land and waters across Australia in which we share. We honour and pay our respects to Elders past and present and acknowledge the many thousands of years in which First Nations’ peoples have raised their children to be safe and strong. We also acknowledge the spirit and courage of victims and survivors of childhood abuse, exploitation and violence. Their efforts over many years have inspired our commitment to make changes at every level to better protect the children of today.
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