On Friday, July 10, Meta relaxed its explicit content policies, resulting in the spread of videos with sexual content on a large scale on Instagram. These materials have appeared in users’ feeds through hashtags that are not directly related to pornography, such as “aircraft”, “ets” and “science”.
Columnist Bruna Maia observed the transformation of adult content, which previously depended on the user’s active search, into something that blends into common navigation on Mark Zuckerberg’s platform. She described the phenomenon as a kind of “visual spam” of a sexual nature.
Explicit content spreads through random hashtags
Bruna Maia noticed the mechanism when she started receiving videos of women wearing skin-colored clothes in everyday situations, such as folding sheets, filling up vehicles, trying on jewelry and walking dogs. An acquaintance of the columnist classified these productions as “soft porn”, made to circumvent restrictions on adult content.
Even blocking the accounts, Bruna reported that similar new ones were continually appearing. Only after changing her interaction pattern was she able to direct her feed to desired content, such as videos of otters and honey badgers, demonstrating the difficulty of user control.
Risks of the new algorithm for children and adolescents
- Animals
- Astronomy
- Science
This scenario raises awareness about the risks for children and adolescents, in addition to reinforcing the objectification of the female body. Meta, which often faces challenges related to content moderation and the dissemination of sensitive information, is now faced with a new layer of complexity on its platform.
The changing formation of digital sexual desire
Bruna Maia focused her analysis on the impact of this exposure on the formation of sexual desire. According to the columnist, “pornography consumption becomes algorithmic and compulsory”, since the content is pushed onto the user, and not actively sought out.
She made a comparison with previous forms of access to pornography, which included magazines, VHS tapes, specialized websites and paid platforms such as OnlyFans and Privacy. The main difference is that Instagram, a space where family members share crochets, pets and everyday scenes, now introduces this type of material without consent.
User reaction and the challenge of moderation
When the desire or impulse to seek sexual content is replaced by passive exposure, sex takes on the connotation of spam – unsolicited and often unwanted material. The columnist stated that her reaction to this excess stimulation tends to be irritation or indifference, rather than interest.
This content policy change raises important questions about user autonomy and platform accountability. An algorithm’s ability to inject explicit content into an environment that should be familiar and safe poses a significant challenge to digital health and users’ experience.
