Meta, the parent company of social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, has been criticized for using pictures of schoolchildren in its various social media ads. Meta is using pictures of teenage school-going students. It is learned that these pictures have been used in ads targeting 37-year-old men. Many parents find this matter scary and embarrassing.
It has been seen that an advertisement for joining Meta’s micro-blogging site Threads is being shown to a 37-year-old man. This advertisement can be seen on Instagram. The face and name of a 13-year-old female student wearing a school uniform can be seen in various ad posts.
Meta used pictures of children; because their parents posted these pictures on Instagram after returning from school. However, the parents did not know Meta’s advertising rules. One mother told the media that her account was private. Even though it was private, various posts automatically went to Threads. Another parent said that she posted her daughter’s picture on a public Instagram account. The image was later shown to a stranger as a suggestion along with a picture of a child. A user who saw these images complained that such posts were intentionally provocative. It exploited the children and their families involved. The father of a 13-year-old girl in various images called the incident completely horrifying. Analyzing the various images, it was seen that all the schoolgirls were wearing short skirts. Their legs were either exposed or they were wearing stockings. The father said that a picture I shared was used by a huge company like Facebook to market its products in a sexualized way. I felt very upset by this.
However, Meta said that these images do not violate its policies. According to Meta, images that are shared publicly in accordance with community standards and criteria are used to encourage others to visit threads. Meta’s system does not recommend posts in threads shared by teenagers. The images that have been published are actually taken from adult accounts.
A person who saw the ad told the media that promotional posts are being sent only with pictures of schoolchildren. No pictures of boys wearing school uniforms were seen. There seems to be a sexual aspect here.
The mother of a 15-year-old girl said, I published a normal picture of my daughter going to school. I had no idea that Instagram was using it to promote it. This is very disgusting. She is just a minor. I would never have agreed to such an act. Even in exchange for money, I would not have allowed people to attract people online with pictures of girls wearing school uniforms. The mother who made this complaint has 267 followers on her Instagram account. And her child’s post has received about 7,000 views. 90 percent of them are not followers. Half of the viewers are over 44 years old and 90 percent are men.
Another mother complained that Meta is doing this on purpose. This is happening without telling us anything. Meta wants to create content. This is very disgusting. Who created the ad on Threads? Why are children’s pictures being used to promote a medium for adult men?
Meta said the posts were being shown to others through its recommendation tool. A company spokesperson said the shared images did not violate our policies. The images were posted publicly by parents. In our system, photos shared by teenagers themselves are not recommended in Threads posts. Users can control whether Meta recommends their public posts on Instagram.
A 37-year-old Instagram user from London, UK, said: “For the past few days, I have been repeatedly shown Meta ads to go to Threads. There were only pictures of girls in school uniforms posted by parents. In some of the pictures, their names were also visible. As a parent, I think Meta’s posts like this are not appropriate for promotion aimed at adults.
Source: The Guardian
Get real time update about this post category directly on your device, subscribe now.
