Seeking social media stardom for their underage daughters, mothers post images of them on Instagram. The accounts draw men sexually attracted to children, and they sometimes pay to see more.
The ominous messages began arriving in Elissa’s inbox early last year.
“You sell pics of your underage daughter to pedophiles,” read one. “You’re such a naughty sick mom, you’re just as sick as us pedophiles,” read another. “I will make your life hell for you and your daughter.”
Elissa has been running her daughter’s Instagram account since 2020, when the girl was 11 and too young to have her own. Photos show a bright, bubbly girl modeling evening dresses, high-end workout gear and dance leotards. She has more than 100,000 followers, some so enthusiastic about her posts that they pay $9.99 a month for more photos.
Over the years, Elissa has fielded all kinds of criticism and knows full well that some people think she is exploiting her daughter. She has even gotten used to receiving creepy messages, but these — from “Instamodelfan” — were extreme. “I think they’re all pedophiles,” she said of the many online followers obsessed with her daughter and other young girls.
Elissa and her daughter inhabit the world of Instagram influencers whose accounts are managed by their parents. Although the site prohibits children under 13, parents can open so-called mom-run accounts for them, and they can live on even when the girls become teenagers.
Yes, these parents are essentially (and knowingly in some cases) pimping their kids and that is awful.
But let’s not minimise the fact that the pedo’s are the ones creating this situation. They’re the ones sexualising these kids, they’re the ones leaving fucking awful comments, they’re the ones trying to coerce and threaten, they’re the ones curating huge Telegram groups instructing other men how to locate these posts.
And let’s also not minimise Meta’s role in all this either. Reading that article it was clear that Meta literally don’t give a fuck about these kids. At all.
I can’t let you say that. Of course Meta gives a fuck, they would be irresponsible not to. Those kids bring in many valuable viewers they can sell to advertisers.