I wonder if whoever ran this test prefers this type of content and its tied to a wifi network, same device, linked account, IP or location and there's no detail of the setting of the test. Too many factors going on to conclude with not a lot of transparency for reproducibility or flaws in the data collection.
Instagram Recommends Sexual Videos to Accounts for 13-Year-Olds, Tests Show
61–70 of 109 posts
Re: Instagram Recommends Sexual Videos to Accounts for 13-Year-Olds, Tests Show
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
When I was younger porn was a properly seedy thing that people would consume but almost no-one knew anyone that 'did it'. Nowadays you have OnlyFans models or similar basically all over every social media platform, businesses trying to sell it as a legit lifestyle, etc. It's completely different, because it's becoming much more bidirectional and open now.
Porn and OF are not similar. Porn is more of a job and OF a lifestyle
OF is porn with a fresh coat of paint.
Sure, it is advertised as something one does as "a lifestyle", but when the model works for a professional studio with metrics to reach and gig workers chatting with customers while pretending to be her [1], how is that not a job? And more important, how do you know that the model on screen is doing what (s)he's doing because of their "lifestyle" and not because they are behind on their weekly numbers and may otherwise lose their spot in the agency's rotation?
Re: Instagram Recommends Sexual Videos to Accounts for 13-Year-Olds, Tests Show
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe using opaque algorithms to score and assign prominence to specific content based on ill-defined metrics like "engagement" was a mistake.
If an algorithm correctly determines content that will keep a person interested, and that content is, lets say problematic, isn't that an issue with the person not the algorithm?
Yes, that's still a problem with the algorithm as it's prioritizing problematic content for increased ad revenue - something those buying ads on the platform should be extremely concerned about.
Re: Instagram Recommends Sexual Videos to Accounts for 13-Year-Olds, Tests Show
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
Genuine question: why is TikTok viewed as a risk? How does it differ from Facebook or Twitter with all the fake news, threats, etc. Imo, the way that some have instrumentalized Western social media for disinformation is a bigger threat than allowing a competitor
FB/IG will delete or downgrade content that's extremely embarrassing to the US government; TikTok will do the same for the Chinese government. It's amusing when a subject (e.g. US government funding for a Chinese virus lab doing bat coronavirus research right before the Covid pandemic) hits both triggers - but X does allow that content to some degree so perhaps X really is a bit more pro-free-speech than either FB/IG…
FB/IG/Threads openly downrank any political content for good reasons nowadays. There was a thread from one of the execs that I saw a few months ago. I actually like that. Not everything has to be "rage bait of the day sprinkled with geopolitical drama". And whenever I have that itch to scratch, I can just doom-scroll through Twitter.
TikTok is a bit different though, I think they were able to capture the audience and put them in correct bubbles, so if you want to just watch your funny memes, you won't see anything else. But looking at my friend's feeds, they see the opposite - extremely polarizing political content from all the possible sides of the spectrum. It looks like IG Reels has started to eat their lunch, but time will show.
Re: Instagram Recommends Sexual Videos to Accounts for 13-Year-Olds, Tests Show
#65I know this sounds defeatist but, I don't know why anyone even bothers to report things like this anymore. Meta doing something they're not supposed to do, even after promising they'd never do it again? This isn't news. This is a Thursday.
Our governments aren't going to do anything about it. We all know it. In part because not enough constituents are complaining loudly enough (or, you know; at all) about these companies.
Speaking of; there is a very quick solution to these companies misbehaving: us. We don't even need to cancel our accounts (wouldn't matter anyway, they won't really delete them). Just stop using the services and let the companies know why. Let them know that when they truly take responsibility for their actions and behave then maybe we'll come back. Until then, we're refusing to be good products for them to sell.
But, let's face it, there are too many people out there that foolishly think they can't have a social life without social media despite the overwhelming evidence to prove that's not true. Too many people thinking they can't do without Amazon, Apple, Netflix, or Google, or Microsoft among many others. So, nobody will do or say anything and these companies will continue abusing us.
I mean, damn. If we can't get fired up enough to do something about one of them blatantly showing sexual material to minors then we haven't hit rock bottom from this particular drug.
Re: Instagram Recommends Sexual Videos to Accounts for 13-Year-Olds, Tests Show
#66> In one clip that Instagram recommended to a test account identified as 13 years old, an adult performer promised to send a picture of her “chest bags” via direct message to anyone who commented on her video. Another flashed her genitalia at the camera. When it comes encryption and privacy the legislators just can't wait to jump in an "save the children", let's see how vigorous they are going to be investigating and…
The TikTok ban is political and not to save the children, perhaps to stop them seeing the horrors in the middle east, instead tune them into $MindDestorying content instead.
Re: Instagram Recommends Sexual Videos to Accounts for 13-Year-Olds, Tests Show
#67> In one clip that Instagram recommended to a test account identified as 13 years old, an adult performer promised to send a picture of her “chest bags” via direct message to anyone who commented on her video. Another flashed her genitalia at the camera. When it comes encryption and privacy the legislators just can't wait to jump in an "save the children", let's see how vigorous they are going to be investigating and…
Same for Snap, which is surprising given its reputation: > Despite their systems’ similar mechanics, neither TikTok nor Snapchat recommended the sex-heavy video feeds to freshly created teen accounts that Meta did, tests by the Journal and Edelson found. This imo proves that Meta isn't even trying: > In some instances, Instagram recommended that teen accounts watch videos that the platform had already labeled as “dis…
Mostly because Snapchat can't be easily used as a "funnel through discovery algorithms". On the other side of it, it's probably the app where everyone sends their explicit photos to each other, especially within the younger demographics.
Re: Instagram Recommends Sexual Videos to Accounts for 13-Year-Olds, Tests Show
#68> In one clip that Instagram recommended to a test account identified as 13 years old, an adult performer promised to send a picture of her “chest bags” via direct message to anyone who commented on her video. Another flashed her genitalia at the camera. When it comes encryption and privacy the legislators just can't wait to jump in an "save the children", let's see how vigorous they are going to be investigating and…
The reason for the US government banning TikTok is not that TikTok is a worse product (it is superior). The reason is that it is a massive geopolitical risk. People often conflate these two.
I find it bemusing that people continue to pretend that some TikTok videos can just completely brain-warp people, when domestic politicians paired alongside US intelligence agencies, countless astroturfed social media accounts, and a completely dysfunctional and collaborative media system can't make people think what they want them to.
Re: Instagram Recommends Sexual Videos to Accounts for 13-Year-Olds, Tests Show
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
[flagged]
So you are saying that TikTok US shares zero code to TikTok China? I never suggested that data is going back to China but my engineering mind jumps immediately to the backends sharing code albeit deployed from two different companies and regions. China is famous for its fast and efficient censorship in social media and assume this ability would transfer to the US.
Regardless of what code is shared, the reality is that TikTok US is less censored than other platforms.
Re: Instagram Recommends Sexual Videos to Accounts for 13-Year-Olds, Tests Show
#70I'm genuinely curious, how old were you when you were first exposed to sexual content? I think I was like 7 or 8. Like, we had a channel ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RTV_Palma ) publicly broadcasting porn after midnight (I don't remember watching that) and all the older (~15YO) kids around the neighborhood were collecting porn magazines from who knows where and hiding them around in "caches". I remember all the ol…
But it's different... you actually had to seek porn to find it back then (like stay up past your bedtime, turn on a relatively bad tv station, and sneak sticky magazines from somewhere. Now it's seeking you... open instagram, and you get porn ads, even if you're 13. On the other hand, boobs in shower gel ads were pretty normal back then, and noone really got excited by them. Also asses in thongs for suntan location (…
> you actually had to seek porn to find it back then
You clearly haven't seen early Internet. Giant flashy banners with semi-porn content everywhere