Meta: Another Moment of Adulting

September 6, 2022

I spotted this story in the usually understated online publication Variety: “Instagram Removes Pornhub’s Account.” The subject is a difficult one to discuss in some social situations. I would not bring it up in most business meetings. I do address CSAM and related topics in my lectures to law enforcement and intelligence professionals, but I try to keep the examples in terms of methods for identifying ultimate domain owners, geolocations of images and videos, etc.

Not Variety.

The publication states:

Instagram has suspended Pornhub’s widely followed account on the social platform. Before the sex site’s account was removed from Instagram, Pornhub had 13.1 million followers and more than 6,200 posts. Reps for Meta, Instagram’s parent company, did not respond to a request for comment.

Why?

How about this paragraph:

On its Instagram account, Pornhub shared no pornographic videos and images. However, it had “directly promoted pornography” and featured videos like “Next Career Goal” encouraging people to become pornography performers, according to Dawn Hawkins, CEO of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. The NCOSE had been among a group of advocates that has lobbied Instagram to remove Pornhub. “Instagram is courageously choosing to stop partnering with Pornhub, and it is time for all corporate entities to follow its example,” Hawkins said.

Are examples of adulting “courageous” in the context of Meta (Facebook)?

I suppose to some people. For me, this is another example of high tech management taking steps to deliver PR in the hopes of improving one’s image.

Now what about other types of content on Meta properties; specifically, images and messages about activities which are possibly illegal and pose risks to certain individuals.

Consistent, rigorous adulting — not random acts of belated management action — strike me as showmanship. Hence, Variety’s coverage?

Stephen E Arnold, September 6, 2022

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under Facebook, News

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.