An image posted on an aggregator account with a teen hashtag. Picture: Instagram Source: Instagram
INSTAGRAM is the pretty app, the one where people share soft-focus, filtered images of sunsets.
But its unthreatening veneer conceals a seedy and dangerous element, in which sexual predators are stalking and even grooming young people.
Unlike Facebook, most Instagram accounts are public, and it's enormously popular with underage teens, who regularly post pouting selfies and bikini shots.
Teenagers are accustomed to seeing celebrities like Rihanna posting bikini shots on the app. Picture: mdollas11 Source: Supplied
While many of the people watching, liking and commenting are also young, some of them aren't. Click on their profiles, and you'll see an empty account, or a photo of an older man.
These are voyeurs, preying on young people exploring their sexuality in typical teenage fashion — but now, on a very public platform. And with Instagram's recently added private messaging feature, it's easy to take the conversation somewhere secret.
One 20-year-old user told Mic he stumbled across a photo of a topless boy who looked about 11 years old, with thousands of likes from empty profiles and older users. A 15-year-old girl posted an innocuous photo of herself with lyrics and the hashtag #ArianaGrande, and received the comment: "I would f*** that big ass :)."
Instagram has 300 million users and is thought to be growing faster than any other social app. Source: Supplied
Search for "teen" and you'll find hundreds of variations on "sexy teen girls", "teen sex" and "teen selfies". Many of these are aggregator accounts, which promise to share teenagers' photos with a wider audience, playing on their desire for the validation of more likes and follows.
Instagram has tried to police the self-portraits uploaded, causing some controversy among artists and models for shutting down accounts that posted photos of topless women. But it's not necessarily the hardcore images that are the biggest problem.
Even with Google and Microsoft removing explicit images of children from the internet, paedophiles can still reach young people posting legal images on social media, often posing as young people themselves and requesting nude photos.
Teenagers are accustomed to seeing celebrities post sexy pictures on Instagram, so why not do the same?
Kim Kardashian shares a selfie with her legions of fans. Source: Instagram
Grier Weeks, from the National Association to Protect Children in the US, said one predator blackmailed more than 100 boys into sending him explicit photographs by threatening to show their parents and schoolteachers images.
It's easy to entice someone away from the prying eyes of Instagram too, with many comments on provocative photos offering phone numbers, usernames for Kik and Snapchat accounts and links to Dropboxes where pornographic images are stored.
Some profiles appear to advertise prostitution, displaying a few lingerie pictures, a phone number and a suggestive message.
Instagram is thought to be the fastest growing social network at the moment, with 300 million active users after four years, surpassing Twitter's 284 million. But the dangers are obvious.
Instagram's old problems with drug photos has not gone away either. Source: Instagram
As long as two years ago, it was making headlines when the app was forced to crack down on pro-anoxeria "thinspiration" pages, self-harm accounts and hashtags glorifying drugs, such as #junkiesofig.
They're still there, but slightly better hidden, with #junkiesofiggg revealing a host of disturbing photos of heroin and crack use.
Instagram has taken steps to protect young users, with an age minimum of 13, a feature for blocking users and "report" buttons on all photos, videos and comments.
But the sheer volume of sexual and explicit content, as well as the fact that teenagers are deliberately promoting photos of themselves, makes this a serious challenge.
Instagram has not responded to requests for comment.
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