Tell HN: Instagram is promoting inappropriate photos of underage girls
My mother posted an update on Instagram. Shes on vacation in some beach town. Because of this she tagged her location. The location was weird. It wasn't "Miami" or "Los Angeles". Searching either of those tags reveals pages of adults doing adult things. Typical Instagram content.
No the location was something like "ABC Seaview Inlet". I have no idea where that is so naturally I click it. What do I find? A page filled exclusively with underage girls in bikinis. Some 15-16 but others much younger. Possible 12. Not a single picture of my mother who had tagged her location in several.
Now viewed in the right context, by family or friends, these photos would be acceptable. Not something you would show your grandmother but not illegal. And if you were on the beach that day you would of course have seen these girls in bikinis. But there's something deeply unsettling about indexing these young girls for the general public to see, collect, and interact with. Anyone can comment on these photos and start an interaction with children.
I'm certain none of those girls wanted me, a 30 year old man, to see their vacation pictures. Instagram's default privacy settings should reflect that. And further, Instagram should seek to reduce the total reach of an underage person so I (a person completely unrelated to them) can never see them.
Do you agree or am I over-reacting?