Mark Zuckerberg knew that Instagram’s algorithms promoted and connected a vast network of predatory child groomers, but he ignored the problem, according to the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit against Meta, the parent company of Instagram.
The FTC’s trial against Meta kicked off in April, revealing a trove of damning internal emails between Zuckerberg, Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom, and other Meta executives, according to the New York Post.
The emails suggest Zuckerberg was well aware that Instagram’s algorithm aggressively recommended that child groomers follow minors on the app, making it easier to prey on them.
Among the alarming emails was a 2019 internal report titled “Inappropriate Interactions with Children on Instagram” that was circulated among Instagram executives, including Zuckerberg.
“In the report, Instagram researchers found that nearly 2 million accounts operated by minors had been recommended to ‘groomers’ — a term referring to adult sickos who target kids for sexual purposes — within a single three-month period,” according to the Post.
“[Twenty-seven percent] of all follow recommendations to groomers were minors,” the internal Instagram report stated. “We are recommending nearly 4X as many minors to groomers. 22 percent of those recommendations resulted in a follow request.”
Meta’s panic about ‘groomers’ targeting minors on Instagram surfaces at FTC antitrust trial https://t.co/ndobfRgveS pic.twitter.com/pu4NVONTTE
— New York Post (@nypost) May 26, 2025
What’s especially disturbing is that concerns about sexually explicit content — including those involving children — began infesting Instagram shortly after Facebook (now Meta) bought the app in 2012.
Should Zuckerberg be held personally responsible for the grooming happening on Instagram?
In a May 2014 email, Instagram executive Miguel Velazquez warned that corporate partner Apple complained about the exorbitant amount of “pornographic content on IG and how easily accessible it is.”
At the time, Apple also told Instagram it had received “several complaints at the ‘exec level’ about this.”
Mark Zuckerberg’s social media app is now alarmingly recommending explicit adult reels to children as young as 13 years old.
This is not the first time a Mark Zuckerberg-controlled app has faced such allegations. Last December, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez claimed… pic.twitter.com/tTYD0k5TQD
— Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) June 20, 2024
In a 2017 internal email to Instagram executives, Systrom expressed alarm that Zuckerberg ignored requests to devote more resources to protecting minors on the platform — even after a child committed suicide on Instagram Live.
“I don’t think Mark understands the urgency of working on integrity related issues on IG [Instagram],” Systrom wrote, per the Post.
“Do you guys have anecdotes and links I can send? I’m assuming the child killing himself on live is an important one, but I think there were others (a suicide?).”
In May 2018, Meta executive Guy Rosen sounded the alarm about Instagram’s “groomer” problem in an email to Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri.
“Harmful Behavior… e.g., grooming especially — this really worries me given we’re finding a lot of, umm, opportunity on FB, and given IG’s younger audience I bet we’ll find we have work to do there …” Rosen wrote, per the Post.
Despite these repeated warnings, Meta chairman Mark Zuckerberg apparently refused to address the child-grooming problem on the popular platform.
In 2023, The Wall Street Journal spotlighted how Instagram facilitated the growth of an expansive grooming network and enabled the mass marketing of child pornography.
“Pedophiles have long used the internet, but unlike the forums and file-transfer services that cater to people who have interest in illicit content, Instagram doesn’t merely host these activities. Its algorithms promote them,” the Journal reported.
“Instagram connects pedophiles and guides them to content sellers via recommendation systems that excel at linking those who share niche interests, the Journal and the academic researchers found.”
TUCKER: We just found out massive pedophile networks are operating across Instagram and no one did anything about it pic.twitter.com/TNJj3PHA80
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) June 8, 2023
According to research by Stanford University, Instagram is the main platform used by pedophiles to promote and sell child sex-abuse content.
Federal law prohibits the promotion, distribution, purchase, or possession of child pornography. Yet Instagram was a flourishing cesspool for this.
In a nutshell, Zuckerberg was made aware of the horrific child-safety issues festering on Instagram for more than a decade but has done little to stem this crisis.
This is especially disgusting because he himself is a father. You’d think he’d care more about ensuring the emotional and physical safety of children since he has three daughters.
There have been countless studies showing that social media can be harmful, especially to young people. In general, children should not be on social media, but when they are, platforms such as Instagram should not enable pedophiles to target them.
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