A New York Times investigation Dozens of potential pedophiles have been found exploiting the field of child influence and posing as photographers or social media experts to get close to children.
Michael Allen Walker reportedly promised mothers that their daughters would get lots of Instagram followers until they completed his mentorship. He ran his business from a state prison where he was serving a 20-year sentence for sexually exploiting children. Walker bragged on Telegram, where several of the men communicated, that they had seen sexualized images of child influencers, according to the report.
According to the investigation, men gain mothers' trust by walking decently through photos of unaccompanied children. Other times, the men reportedly paid for the child's clothes or for photos that were not on the child's account.
Ryan Daniels, a spokesman for Meta, told the New York Times that teen accounts have safeguards in place to limit interactions with strangers. For parent-operated minor accounts; Parental control over privacy settings; Controls the content and how the account interacts with other accounts.