The ABC has uncovered a disturbing network of Instagram accounts showcasing explicit content involving bestiality and the sexual exploitation of dogs and other pets. Despite the platform's strict policies against animal cruelty, many of the accounts have been active for extended periods, raising concerns about its content moderation policies.
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00:00These Instagram accounts are blurred for a reason.
00:06They share explicit images and videos of animal cruelty and dogs and other animals being sexually
00:12exploited, disturbing content, easy to find and operating in plain sight with hundreds
00:19of followers.
00:20Dogs being tortured, dogs being raped, killed, abused, very graphic imagery.
00:30A spokesperson for MEDA, Instagram's parent company, says its policies prohibit graphic
00:36and sexually explicit content and that it's removed as soon as MEDA is made aware.
00:42But Sally, who's asked to remain anonymous, says that's not the case.
00:46She's part of a network of animal activists who've reported the accounts to Instagram
00:51multiple times.
00:53Those accounts were basically not shut down.
00:56I would get responses saying that it didn't go against their community standards.
01:02Nothing, nothing was done by Instagram.
01:05Australia's e-safety commissioner says it may be Class 1 material and subject to e-safety's
01:11removal powers, and that such material can be extremely harmful to those who stumble
01:17across it, especially children.
01:20Instagram relies on automated systems and humans to review and moderate its content.
01:26But these humans may only have a split second to make a decision about whether content violates
01:32standards.
01:33And researchers say content moderation isn't the biggest problem.
01:38Social media platforms could be turning a blind eye to make a profit.
01:42They are all commercial enterprises and they all operate in the same model, which is they
01:48are trying to monetise our attention.
01:50Very often, you know, the problematic content is the content that generates that sort of
01:56engagement that they are looking for.
01:58Yet another example of a largely unregulated social media platform crossing ethical lines.