While Instagram does not allow children under 13 to have accounts, parents often run their kids' pages, hoping to help them become influencers or models. And kidfluencers can make up to six figures monthly.
But a recent investigation by The New York Times exposes the dark side of influencers on Meta's platforms. What begins as a parent's best effort to jump-start their kid's career can "descend into a dark underworld dominated by adult men, many of whom openly admit on other platforms to being sexually attracted to children."
The Times discovered parents sell pictures, exclusive chat sessions, and even their "girls' worn leotards" to male followers. An audience demographic firm found 32 million adult male followers among the 5,000 child influencer accounts the Times examined. Another analysis indicated that suggestive images are most likely to garner "likes" and comments, and sometimes men "flatter, bully and blackmail" girls and their parents to elicit racy pictures.
Andy Stone, a spokesperson for Instagram’s parent company, Meta, said that parents are responsible for the content on their Instagram accounts, pointing to a feature that allows parents to ban comments with certain words. Still, there is evidence that Meta ignored growing concerns. The company found 500,000 child Instagram accounts with "inappropriate" interactions daily, according to an internal 2020 study quoted in legal proceedings. | 
